Observational Learning Social-cognitive theory Albert Bandura

Observational Learning, a.k.a. vicarious learning  We acquire new behaviors by imitating behaviors we observe in others. The person whose behavior is observed is called a MODEL.  Learning occurs in our brains as a cognitive process

Example of observational learning  I have never fired a gun, but I expect I can do so b/c of having observed countless gun battles on TV and in the movies.  Modeling influences a wide range of behaviors:  Fashion  Style of conflict

Neuroscientists  Discovered mirror neurons (frontal lobe next to the motor cortex).  Neurons fire when we perform certain actions or observe others performing certain actions.

Examples Imitation of Models  Shortly after birth, imitate an adult who sticks out his tongue.  By 9 months, infants will imitate novel play behaviors.  By age 14 months, children will imitate acts…modeled on television

We learn by watching others if 4 conditions are met  1.Attention  2.Retention  3.Ability to reproduce the behavior  4.Motivation

O.L. in everyday life  Antisocial behavior = negative and destructive, unhelpful behavior.  Prosocial behavior = positive, constructive, helpful behavior.  The same learning principles apply no matter what behavior is modeled.

Breakdown of a famous experiment  Bobo Doll Experiment  Albert Bandura  Demonstrated that people can learn a behavior w/o being reinforced for doing so and that learning a behavior and performing it are not the same thing.

Experiment  3 groups of nursery- school children watched a film in which an adult model walked up to an adult-sized plastic doll become aggressive (pushing, punching, kicking the doll)

Film ended differently for each group  1.model was showered with candies and soft praise  2.witnessed a 2 nd adult shaking a finger at the model, scolding them.  3.no second adult was shown, there was no consequences for the model

Experiment  Immediately after seeing the film, the children were individually escorted into another room where they found a doll, balls, toy mallet, all kind of toys.  Children played for 10 minutes. Researchers watched from a one-way mirror. Children’s behaviors were then coded for any signs of aggressive responses.

Data  Children who observed the model being rewarded were especially likely to perform the model’s behavior more quickly.  All three groups did imitate the model, but to different degrees  A fourth group (control) watched a film with no aggressive modeling….children— did not engage in aggressive playing.

Albert Bandura (Stanford psychologist) Groundbreaking research  Bobo Doll experiment findings:  Children will display aggressive behavior after exposure to aggressive models  Research showed that children imitated, with uncanny precision, the behaviors that they saw modeled

Advice from Bandura  Want to teach a child not to hit other children.  You might think that slapping a child on the hand as punishment would change the behavior.  S.L. Theory maintains that slapping only demonstrates that hitting is an effective means of getting one’s way.  Find a less aggressive way to teach the child.