Observational learning
Psychological processes
First to understand observational behaviour let’s look at some commonly used definitions of it.
“Observational learning, method of learning that consists of observing and modelling another
individual’s behaviour, attitudes, or emotional expression” (Stone.S,2016). In simple words, it is the
process of learning behaviour through observing or watching others perform a particular behaviour. It
is also known as shaping and modelling of behaviours. The behaviour that is identified as the
behaviour to be imitated is called targeted behaviour. Children, especially young ones tend to learn
behaviours through observational learning regardless of the behaviour being desirable or undesirable.
We say that one needs a model to be able to model a behaviour.
So, the simple question is “what is a model?”. A model is anyone that the observer chooses to
observer for the targeted behaviour. But the model can’t be just anyone. The observer only models
someone who is similar to them in some way or the other, they need to be at a higher status, need be
an expert at something or be more knowledgeable, they could be one providing them with
nourishment and nurture them like their primary or secondary caregivers or their behaviour needs to
be rewarded.
According to Albert Bandura, who is the first psychologist to recognize the observational behaviour
phenomena which he called the social learning theory. His theory focused on the importance of
observation and modelling of behaviours, attitudes and emotional reactions of others (Debell.A, N.D).
Bandura theorized that there are four aspects to observational learning, they are:
1. Attention: the observer must be paying attention to the targeted behaviour of the model. The
things that influence the levels of attention are the model’s degree of likeness and the
observer’s mood in the situation.
2. Retention: observer needs to remember, memorize or retain the targeted behaviour. To retain
the behaviour the observer needs to make sure to store the information in an easy way. For
example, mneumonic.
3. Reproduction: once the behaviour is retained the behaviour must be repeated or imitated in
the real world. The newly learnt behaviour needs to be practiced to be used further.
4. Motivation: all the targeted behaviours that are modelled need motivation or desire to be used
in the situation. This motivation can be internal or even external.
These 4 processes were discovered after Bandura performed the famous Bobo doll experiment. The
bobo doll experiment starts with three different groups of kids watching the model’s interactions with
a bobo doll. The first group sees the model being violent with the bobo doll and being awarded for the
behaviour. The second group sees the model acting violently with the bobo doll and being punished
for it. The last group saw the same but with no consequences.
So, the motivation here for the behaviour is the punishment/reward. The first group that saw that
model got a reward for violent behaviour followed the behaviour, whereas the second group didn’t
follow the behaviour in fear of the punishment and the third group had mixed results. Hence the
children are most likely to mimic the behaviours if they were rewarded or if there were no
consequence rather than if the model was punished for the behaviour.
A few examples for this kind of learning are:
1. Learning a recipe off youtube and recreating it
2. Children displaying violence as their parents did to punish them
3. Use of drugs by teenagers as shown in television shows or because of the peers.
4. Abuse of the significant other as they saw the same in their childhood
5. Learning new techniques to learn through peers or lecturers
References :
1. Debell. A (N.D). What is observational learning? Retrieved from
https://waterbearlearning.com/observational-learning/#:~:text=Observational%20learning
%20is%20the%20process,they%20imitate%20behaviors%20of%20adults.
2. Stone. S (2016). Observational learning. Retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/science/observational-learning
3.
