Vicarious Learning Flashcards
Describe Thorndike’s work with observational learning in animals.
When putting cats into a puzzle box, he found that a second cat would not imitate the first cat who had learned to navigate the box, but instead underwent the same operant conditioning process as the first cat. There was no difference in performance between cats that had observed a successful model and those who had not. The same results were found with monkeys (although this finding was later disputed).
Define vicarious learning.
A change in behaviour due to the experience of observing a model.
What is vicarious Pavlovian conditioning?
When a stimulus becomes conditioned from observing its effect on others instead of first-hand experience.
E.g., one may learn to be afraid of a stimulus if it sees that the stimulus has an averse effect on others
Describe Mineka & Cook’s work in fear conditioning.
They had 6 young, captive monkeys with no instinctive fear of snakes (UR/NS). After the monkeys observed their wild-reared parents express fear towards snakes , 5/6 monkeys reacted with intense fear themselves. The same effect was found with monkeys watching a video of monkeys being afraid of snakes. The author concludes that there is no evidence that what is being called vicarious conditioning is a different process from regular conditioning because it is still a stimulus (the snake) being paired with a fear response.
Describe the work of Warden et al. in the vicarious operant learning of animals.
They demonstrated that animals can benefit from the consequences of a model behaviour. He created an environment with two identical compartments, so that two problems could be solved identically in each area. He put a model monkey in one compartment (already knew how to solve the problem) and an observer monkey in another compartment (restrained from solving the problem). Studies showed that the observers substantially benefitted from satching the model, often responding correctly on the first trial. These results were replicated in further studies.
Does imitation = vicarious learning?
Imitation does not necessarily mean that vicarious learning has occurred, nor does a failure to imitate a model necessarily mean that learning hasn’t occurred.
E.g., someone may observe an averse consequence from an action, in which case a lack of imitation (i.e., avoidance) would indicate learning.
What is generalized imitation?
the tendency of an observer imitates a model’s behaviour even though the behaviour isn’t reinforced
Describe Baer and Sherman’s study of generalized imitation.
They found that children would imitate 3 behaviours that were reinforced as well as a fourth behaviour presented at the same time as the first three that wasn’t reinforced. When reinforcement was withheld for the first 3, they, along with the fourth behaviour, declined. When reinforcement was introduced for the first 3 again, the fourth also increased with them. This means that it is possible to reinforce the general tendency of imitation in addition to the reinforcement of specific acts.
What conditions influence vicarious learning? (7)
1) consequences of the model’s behaviour
2) consequences of the observer’s behaviour
3) characteristics of the model
4) observer’s age
5) observer’s learning history
6) emotional state of the observer
7) modeled task complexity
Describe how consequences of the model’s behaviour impact vicarious learning.
- Consistent reinforcement/punishment of the model’s behaviour gets better results.
- Rosekrans’ & Hartup found that consistent punishment yielded avoiding the behaviour, consistent reinforcement yielded often exhibiting the behaviour, and sometimes punishing/reinforcing yielded frequency between the two aforementioned groups.
Describe how consequences of the observer’s behaviour impact vicarious learning.
Hirata & Morimura found that chimps would look to their neighbour when struggling with a problem, not when they knew the solution. This is a way of learning via modelling. People, however, tend to do what is best for them because if they model a behaviour that was successful for another person, but is a failure for themselves, they are unlikely to repeat it.
Describe how characteristics of the model impact vicarious learning.
People are more likely to model a person that is competent, attractive, likable and prestigious. Berger found that students were more likely to listen to an instructor of professor status rather than assistant status, even though it was the same person giving the same lesson. Fisher & Harris did a study that approached people in the mall or on campus and asked them to guess the prices of certain items. In the study, they found that if the researcher confederate in the crowd wore a distinct item, or was very expressive (negative or positive), the participants were more likely to remember what was said. This is simply because it attracts the observer’s attention. The qualities listed at the beginning promote vicarious learning because they induce the observer to look at the model, making it more likely for the observer to learn the model’s behaviour. This is why people often try to copy celebrities.
Describe how observer’s age impacts vicarious learning.
Young observers are more likely to copy the behaviour and benefit from the learning, but older observers are more likely to learn the behaviour and remember its occurrence
Describe how the observer’s learning history impacts vicarious learning.
A child with a history of aggressive behaviour being reinforced is more likely to learn from an aggressive model than a child with a different learning history. It is difficult to separate age from history because older and younger will have different histories, due to older having more time to learn, practice and experience things.
Describe how the emotional state of the observer impacts vicarious learning.
Emotions can affect the learning of the observer because they can distract from the model. For example, Warden and Jackson found that sexual excitement can distract the learner from the problem at hand.
