Observati

onal learningdescr i
best heprocessoflear ningbywat chingot hers,retai
ningthe
i
nformation,andt henl aterrepl
icatingthebehaviorst hatwer eobserv ed.Ther ear eanumberof
l
earningtheories,suchascl assicalcondit
ioni
ngandoper antconditi
oni ng, t
hatemphasi zehow
di
rectexperience, reinforcement ,orpunishmentcanl eadt olear
ning.Howev er,agr eatdealof
l
earninghappensi ndi r
ect l
y.
Obser vati
onallearni
ngi ssomet i
mescal ledshapi ng,model i
ng,and
vi
cariousreinforcement .Whi l
eitcant akeplaceatanypoi ntinli
fe,ittendst obet hemost
commondur i
ngchi ldhood. I
talsopl aysani mportantr ol
eint hesocializationpr ocess.Chil
dren
l
earnhowt obehav eandr espondt oothersbyobser vinghowt heirpar ent(s)and/ orcaregiv
ers
i
nteractwithot herpeopl e.

PsychologistAl
ber
tBandur
aisther
esearchermostoft
enassoci
atedwit
hlearni
ngt
hrough
observat
ion.Heandot her
shavedemonstr
atedthatwearenat
ural
lyi
ncli
nedtoengagei
n
observat
ionallearni
ng.

Obser
vat
ional
Lear
ningExampl
es

Thef
oll
owi
ngar
einst
ancest
hatdemonst
rat
eobser
vat
ional
lear
ninghasoccur
red.

Achi
ldwatchesthei
rpar
entf
oldi
ngt
hel
aundr
y.Theyl
aterpi
ckupsomecl
othi
ngandi
mit
ate
f
oldi
ngtheclot
hes.

Ayoungcoupl
egoesonadat etoanAsianrest
aurant
.Theywatchotherdiner
sinther
est
aur
ant
eat
ingwi
thchopst
icksandcopythei
racti
onstolear
nhowt ousetheseutensi
ls.

Achi
ldwatchesaclassmategeti
ntroubl
eforhit
ti
nganot
herchi
l
d.Theyl
ear
nfr
om obser
ving
t
hisi
nter
acti
onthattheyshoul
dnothitot
hers.

Agroupofchil
drenpl
ayhi
de-and-seek.Onechi
l
djoinst
hegroupandi
snotsurewhatt
odo.
Af
terobser
vingtheot
herchi
l
dr enplay,t
heyqui
ckl
ylear
nthebasi
crul
esandjoi
nin.

St
agesofObser
vat
ional
Lear
ning

Therearefourstagesofobservati
onallearni
ng2thatneedtooccurformeaningf
ullearni
ngt o
takepl
ace.Keepi nmind,thi
sisdiff
erentthansimplycopyi
ngsomeoneel se'
sbehavior.I
nstead,
observat
ionall
earni
ngmayi ncorporat
easoci aland/ormot
ivat
ional
componentt hatinfl
uences
whethertheobserverwil
lchoosetoengagei norav oi
dacertai
nbehav i
or.

1At
tent
ion

Foranobser vertolearn,theymustbeinther i
ghtmindsettodoso.Thismeanshav i
ngthe
energytolearn,r
emai ningfocusedonwhatt hemodel i
sengagingin,
andbei ngabletoobserve
themodel forenought imet ograspwhattheyaredoing.Howthemodel i
sper cei
vedcanimpact
theobserver'
slevel ofatt
ention.Model
swhoar eseenbei ngr
ewardedfortheirbehavi
or,model
s
whoar eattr
activ
e, andmodel swhoarevi
ewedassi milartot
heobservert
endt ocommand
moref ocusfrom theobser ver.
Ret
ent
ion

I
ftheobser
verwasabl
etofocusonthemodel'sbehavi
or,
thenextstepi
sbeingableto
rememberwhatwasvi
ewed.Ift
heobserveri
snotabletorecal
lthemodel
'sbehav
ior,
theymay
needtogobacktot
hefi
rstst
ageagain.

Repr
oduct
ion

I
ft heobser
veri sabl
etofocusandret
ainst heinf
ormation,t
henextstageinobserv
ational
l
ear ni
ngistr
yingt or
epli
cat
eit.I
t'
simportanttonotethateveryi
ndiv
idualwil
lhavethei
rown
uniquecapacitywhenitcomestoimit
atingcertai
nbehav ior
s,meani
ngt hatevenwi
thper f
ect
focusandrecall,somebehavi
orsmaynotbeeasi l
ycopied.

Mot
ivat
ion

Inor derfortheobser
vertoengageint hi
snewbehav i
or,theywillneedsomesor tofmot i
vation.
Ev eniftheobserveri
sabletoimit
atethemodel ,i
ftheyl ackthedr i
vetodoso, t
heywi l
ll
ikelynot
followt hr
oughwi t
hthi
snewl ear
nedbehav ior
Mot i
vationmayi ncreaseift
heobser v
erwat ched
themodel recei
vearewardforengaginginacertainbehav iorandtheobserverbeli
evestheywi l
l
alsor ecei
vesomer ewardift
heyimitatesaidbehavior.Mot i
vati
onmaydecr easeiftheobser ver
hadknowl edgeoforwit
nessedthemodel bei
ngpuni shedf oracertai
nbehavior

I
nfl
uencesonObser
vat
ional
Lear
ning

Accor
dingtoBandur
a'sresear
ch,
ther
ear
eanumberoffact
orst
hati
ncr
easet
hel
i
kel
i
hoodt
hat
abehaviorwi
l
lbeimit
ated.Wearemorel
ikel
ytoi
mit
ate:

Peopl
eweper
cei
veaswar
m andnur
tur
ing

Peopl
ewhor
ecei
ver
ewar
dsf
ort
hei
rbehav
ior

Peopl
ewhoar
einanaut
hor
it
ati
veposi
ti
oni
nourl
i
ves

Peopl
ewhoar
esi
mil
art
ousi
nage,
sex,
andi
nter
est
s

Peopl
eweadmi
reorwhoar
eofahi
ghersoci
alst
atus

Whenwehav
ebeenr
ewar
dedf
ori
mit
ati
ngt
hebehav
iori
nthepast

Whenwel
ackconf
idencei
nourownknowl
edgeorabi
l
iti
es
Whent
hesi
tuat
ioni
sconf
usi
ng,
ambi
guous,
orunf
ami
l
iar