Chapters, 10, 11, 13; expertise & motor skills Flashcards
what is observational learning
ways to learn without getting reinforced or punished for it
learn by observing events and their consequences
valuable to survival
social observation learning
observe another individual (of same species) and the consequences of their behavior
use problem solving tasks: watch someone else do it first, then you do it
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vicarious reinforcement
- model’s behavior STRENGTHENS observers tendency to do the same behavior
-
vicarious punishment
- model’s behavior WEAKENS observers tendency to do the same behavior
Ex: 4 cats (1 model, 3 observers); grape-in-a-box; Levy & children; monkeys and raisins
asocial observational learning
same as social observational learning
BUT there is no model to observe
(observe the event, but no one doing the event)
no vicarious punishment or reinforcement
ex: grape in a box experiment: fishing line moved box, not a model
* *we dont know which is better–social or asocial observational learning*
imitation
perform an observed act (whether modeled or not)
usually happens when a behavior is vicariously rewarded
over-imitation: using too many extraneous details
- often present in young children
- it gets worse as we get older (because it’s learned and we get rewarded for it)
task difficulty
more difficult tasks have less learning through observation
BUT it does help improve to chance of success on difficult tasks
models are more likely ot help learn more difficult tasks
models
skill of the model
- skilled models show proper performance
- unskilled models shows what not to do/what ot avoid
model characterisitcs
- attractive, likable, prestigous, competent, celebrity, popular fictional character
- **learn more from a model who draws our attention**
observer characterisitcs
- species of the observer
- humans benfit most from observation
- observer learning history
- ex: chimps with language history learn better
- age
- adults learn less than vhildren; its already been learned
- gender
- ex: female chimps observe caregiver earlier than males
consequences of observer actions
- we learn from whether an act is reinforced or punished
- someone elses punishment/reward effects your actions
- consequences of an event in asocial obs. learning can influence our actions
- if imitating doesn’t get you the same outcome, you’ll try to find what does
Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
- observational leanring occurs because of 4 processes
- attentional processes
- self-directed attention to model consequences
- retentional processes
- store models behavior in memory
- motor-reproductive processes
- use memory to guide your own actions
- motivational processes
- evaluate consequences of imitation (expectations are what matter)
- attentional processes
“need the mental ability to pay attention, retain information, and the motivation & physical ability to do it”
operational learning model
its not about anything in the mind–>
its about being reinforced for imitation
model serves as a cue that similar behavior will gain similar consequences
prosocial effects of observational learning
models of positive influences prosocial behavior can promote peace & equality
anti-social effects of observational learning
exposure to various models of aggression that demonstrate violent behavior can influence us through observatioanl learning
generalization
4 types
tendency for learning in one situation to “spread” to other similar situations
- generalization across people (like vicarious reinforcement)
- generalization across time
- generalization across behaviors (response generalization)
- generalization across situation (stimulus generalization)
ex: Thorndike’s cat-puzzle-box experiment: claw in one box = claw in another box
ex: Little Albert: generalized to not like white fluffly/cute things
Spence’s Theory
peak shift
peak shift:
peak will shift away from punished responses on generalization curve
creates inhibitory range
further out = more generalized
(gets less similar as you go out)
peak moves around based on experience
how to increase generalization
*why increase generalization: indentify dangerous stimuli = avoid similar stimuli*
train in many different settings (provide lots of examples)
vary the schedule of reinforcement
vary the kind of reinforcement
vary the amount of reinforcement
reinforce generalization when it occurs
