Folio 5 Observational Learning

Question 1

What type of behaviours and responses can we acquired through observational learning?

Answer 1

Responses acquired by observing what others do include physical routines (e.g. particular dance style), socially appropriate behaviours (e.g. shaking hands when being introduced to someone) and emotional reactions (e.g. fear at the sight of a spider)

Question 2

Define Observational Learning

Answer 2

Observational learning occurs when someone uses observation of a model’s actions and the consequences of those actions to guide their future actions

Question 3

What is a model?

Answer 3

A model is who or what is being observed and may be live or symbolic

Question 4

What is a live model?

Answer 4

A live model is a real-life person who may be demonstrating. acting out and/or describing or explaining a behaviour

Question 5

What is a symbolic model?

Answer 5

A symbolic model is a real or fictional character displaying behaviour in books, movies, television programs, online and other media

Question 6

What is observational learning also known as?

Answer 6

modelling, or social learning

Question 7

What is the social learning theory?

also known as the social cognitive theory

Answer 7

The social learning theory emphasises the importance of the environment, or ‘social context’, in which learning occurs

Question 8

What does Bandura propose?

Answer 8

Bandura proposes that from the time we are born we are surrounded by other people displaying a huge variety of behaviours, all of which we are able to observe.

Question 9

How do we learn through observational learning?

Answer 9

Through observation, we learn many behaviours, not by actually carrying out the behaviour and experiencing the consequences, but simply by watching the behaviour and its consequences being experienced by someone else

Question 10

Finish this sentence

According to Bandura (1977b)…..

Answer 10

Learning would be exceedingly laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their own actions to inform them what to do

Question 11

Is observational learning completely separate from conditioning? Provide evidence (bandura) for your answer

Answer 11

No, it is not, Bandura’s experiments demonstrated that both classical and operant conditioning can occur vicariously through observational learning. observing someone being punished or reinforced for their behaviour can make the observer more inclined or refrain from performing that action. If you see someone freak out at the sight of a spider, you may become scared when you next see a spider.

Question 12

What is vicarious conditioning?

Answer 12

During vicarious conditioning, the individual watches a model’s behaviour being either reinforced or punished, and then subsequently behaves in exactly the same way or in a modified way, or refrains from the behaviour, as a result of what they have observed. ( Bandura uses the terms vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment to describe the different processes of vicarious conditioning)

Question 13

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 13

Vicarious reinforcement increases the likelihood of the observer behaving in a similar way to a model whose behaviour is reinforced. Thus the observer is conditioned through observing someone else being reinforced without personally experiencing the reinforcement

Question 14

What is vicarious punishment?

Answer 14

Vicarious punishment occurs when the likelihood of an observer performing a particular behaviour decreases after having seen a model’s behaviour being punished

Question 15

What does Bandura mean when he says that observational learning involves crucial cognitive processes?

Answer 15

A person does not simply ‘see’ and then automatically reproduce a behaviour without any intervening mental activity.

Question 16

Do we have to see an individual perform the observed behaviour in order to know if observational learning occurred?

Answer 16

No, we sometimes learn through observation but what is learnt remains latent (unexpressed or ‘hidden’) without any immediately observable change in our behaviour simply because there is no motivation or need to reproduce it.

Question 17

How does Bandura’s social cognitive theory act as a ‘bridge’?

Answer 17

Bandura’s social cognitive theory is often referred to as a ‘bridge’ between the purely conditioning theories of Pavlov and Skinner and contemporary cognitive learning theories. This is because social learning theory encompasses cognitive processes such as attention, memory and motivation, as well as learning processes such as conditioning, reinforcement and punishment

Question 18

What is one important finding that occurred as a result of Bandura’s experiments that influenced the way we allow children to view certain content?

Answer 18

Bandura’s results indicate that observational learning can sometimes occur by simply viewing a model, even if the model is neither reinforced nor punished. This means that children can very easily learn and imitate behaviours from visual content such as watching a violent tv show. To avoid/ lower the impact that observational learning has of aggressive behaviour, classification codes were implemented on televised shows and programs to warn the viewer of the content of the film and the recommended viewing audience (e.g.15+)

Question 19

What is a cognitive representation?

Answer 19

A cognitive representation is a mental image or code of that they observe and experience

Question 20

Other than learning how we acquire or modify behaviour, what else can we learn from observational learning?

Answer 20

we learn by observational learning not only how to acquire or modify behaviour but also about what behaviours can be expected to lead to particular consequences

Question 21

What are the 5 processes of observational learning?

Answer 21

• Attention
• Retention
• Reproduction
• Motivation
• Reinforcement

Question 22

Explain the ‘Attention’ process of observational learning

Answer 22

we must pay attention to or closely watch a model’s behaviour and the consequences. If we do not attend to the model’s behaviour, we will not recognise the distinctive features of the observed behaviour. And we may fail to notice the consequences.

Question 23

What factors can influence Attention in observational learning?

Answer 23

-The perceptual capabilities of the observer
- The motivation and interest level of the observer
-The situation in which the behaviour is being observed
-The characteristics of the model, such as attractiveness
(may also be affected by importance of behaviour, its distinctiveness and the effect it might have on us)

Question 24

What characteristics of a model can make us more inclined to pay closer attention and imitate?

Answer 24

• The model is perceived positively, is liked and has a high status
• There are perceived similarities between features and traits of the model and the observer, such as age and sex
• The model is familiar to the observer and is known through previous observation
• The model’s behaviour is visible and stands out clearly against other ‘competing’ models
• The model is demonstrating behaviour that the observer perceives themselves as being able to imitate

Question 25

Explain the ‘Retention’ process of observational learning

Answer 25

We must be able to remember the model’s behaviour. Responses learned by modelling are often not needed until some time after they have been acquired. We need to store in memory a mental representation of what we have observed, and the more meaningful we can make the representation, the more accurately we will be able to replicate the behaviour when necessary.

Question 26

Explain the ‘Reproduction’ process of observational learning

Answer 26

We can attempt to reproduce, or imitate, what has been observed. We must, however, have the ability to put into practice what we observed. We must have the potential to be competent enough to develop the necessary skills to imitate the behaviour.

Question 27

Explain the ‘Motivation’ process of observational learning

Answer 27

The observer must be motivated to perform the behaviour; that it, they must want to reproduce what was observed. Unless the behavioural response is useful or provides an incentive or reward for the observer, it is unlikely that they will want to learn it in the first place, let alone perform it or continue to perform it

Question 28

Explain the ‘Reinforcement’ process of observational learning

Answer 28

Reinforcement influences the motivation to reproduce the observer behaviour and increases the likelihood of reproduction. There are 3 types of reinforcement; external, vicarious and self-reinforcement.

Question 29

What is external reinforcement?

Answer 29

External reinforcement is comparable to learning by consequences. Where the observer experiences consequences for imitating behaviour.

Question 30

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Answer 30

Vicarious reinforcement occurs indirectly by observing the modelled behaviour being reinforced without personally experiencing the reinforcement,

Question 31

What is self-reinforcement?

Answer 31

Self-reinforcement occurs when we are reinforced by meeting certain standards of performance we set for ourselves; e.g. the sense of pride, achievement or fulfilment. Self-reinforcement can also include negative reinforcement, e.g. avoiding a future of being bored in a mindless job may also be a self-reinforcement for achieving academic success.

Question 32

Why is reinforcement important in observational learning?

Answer 32

If the modelled behaviour is reinforced, this will motivate the person to repeat those actions: the next time, the person will expect the behaviour to be reinforced. If the behaviour is not reinforced, it is less likely to be repeated.

Question 33

How can our perceptions of ourselves affect our ability to learn by observation?

Answer 33

Our perception of a model and whether or not we pay attention to what they are doing, as well as the social context in which the modelled behaviour occurs, can be influenced by perceptions of our ‘self’. We are more likely to imitate behaviour if we have low self-confidence and low self-esteem, as compared with people who do not. Self-confidence and self-esteem influence our level of self-efficacy- our belief in our ability to succeed in particular situations.