CH10 Flashcards
Observational learning
relatively permanent changes in environment-behavior relationships due to observing a model
Vicarious punishment
A decrease in the strength of an observed behavior following reinforcement of that behavior in a model.
Two types of observational learning
Social (aka active) and asocial
Ghost conditions
An experimental procedure in which an event normally performed by a model appears to occur without a model.
Imitation (to imitate)
To behave in a manner resembling the behavior of a model.
Generalized imitation
The tendency to imitate modeled behavior even though the imitative behavior is not reinforced.
Why do observers tend to “imitate a behavior that so far as the observer can tell, does not have reinforcing consequences?
It helped us evolutionary
Skilled model
the model demonstrates the proper performance of a task.
Unskilled (aka learning) model
the model is a novice and is observed as he or she learns to perform the task.
The variables that influence observational learning
Difficulty of the task
Skilled vs. unskilled models
Characteristics of the model
Characteristics of the observer
Consequences of observed acts
Consequences of the observer’s behavior
Two main theories of observational learning:
Bandura’s social cognitive theory
Operant learning theory
Vicarious reinforcement
An increase in the strength of an observed behavior following reinforcement of that behavior in a model.
