Observational/Social Learning (Chapter 6)

What is observational learning?

Learning by watching another person's behavior and observing its consequences.

Who was Albert Bandura?

A psychologist known for research showing that people, especially children, can learn behaviors by observing others.

What was the Bobo Doll Study?

Bandura's experiment showing that children who watched adults act aggressively toward an inflatable doll often imitated that behavior.

What did Bandura's Bobo Doll Study demonstrate?

Children can learn and imitate behaviors by observing models, even without being directly instructed to perform them.

What were the three model conditions in the Bobo Doll Study?

Aggressive model, nonaggressive model, and control group with no observed model.

What happened when children observed an aggressive adult model?

They were more likely to imitate aggressive behaviors toward the Bobo doll.

How did consequences affect imitation in Bandura's research?

Children reproduced more modeled aggression when the model was rewarded than when the model was punished. Observed consequences influenced performance.

What is attention in observational learning?

Noticing and paying attention to a model's behavior.

A student watches their classmate carefully demonstrate how to solve a math problem. Which stage is this?

Attention: the student is observing the model's behavior.

What is retention in observational learning?

Remembering and mentally storing the observed behavior.

A child remembers the steps their parent used to tie their shoes. Which stage is this?

Retention: the child has stored the observed steps in memory.

What is production in observational learning?

Being able to perform or reproduce the behavior that was observed and remembered.

A child watches a dance, remembers the movements, and then performs them. Which stage involves performing the dance?

Production: the child reproduces the observed movements.

What is imitation?

Copying a behavior observed in another person.

A child sees an older sibling receive praise for helping with chores and begins helping, too. What is this?

Imitation: the child copies the sibling's behavior.

What is counter-imitation?

Choosing not to copy an observed behavior, especially after seeing it lead to negative consequences.

A student sees a classmate punished for cheating and decides not to cheat. What is this?

Counter-imitation: the student avoids copying the observed behavior.

What is vicarious reinforcement?

Becoming more likely to perform a behavior after observing someone else being rewarded for it.

A student sees a classmate praised for answering questions and starts participating more. What is this?

Vicarious reinforcement: observing praise makes participation more appealing.

What is vicarious punishment?

Becoming less likely to perform a behavior after observing someone else being punished for it.

A child sees a sibling lose video game privileges for breaking a rule and avoids breaking the same rule. What is this?

Vicarious punishment: the child observes the consequence and avoids the behavior.

What is the difference between direct and vicarious reinforcement?

Direct reinforcement rewards your own behavior. Vicarious reinforcement occurs when you observe someone else being rewarded.

What are effective models?

People whose behavior is more likely to be observed and copied because of characteristics such as similarity, competence, importance, or consistency.

How can perceived similarity make a model more effective?

People may be more likely to copy someone they relate to or see as similar to themselves.

How can perceived competence make a model more effective?

People may be more likely to imitate someone they believe is skilled or capable.

How can perceived importance make a model more effective?

People may be more likely to copy someone they admire, respect, or consider influential.

How can consistency make a model more effective?

A model who behaves consistently can provide a clear, reliable example that observers can learn from.

A teenager copies a popular athlete's training routine because they admire the athlete. Which model characteristic may explain this?

Perceived importance: the athlete is admired and influential to the teenager.

A child watches their parent consistently speak politely to others and begins doing the same. What concept does this illustrate?

Observational learning; the parent is an effective model, and the child's behavior reflects imitation.

What are the three main stages of observational learning?

Attention: notice the behavior. Retention: remember it. Production: reproduce it.

A child notices a model, remembers the behavior, and later copies it. Identify the stages in order.

Attention, retention, production.

How are observational learning and classical conditioning different?

Observational learning involves watching others. Classical conditioning involves learning an association between stimuli.

Essay Question: A child sees a classmate receive a prize for sharing and starts sharing more often. Explain the learning process.

The child observes the behavior and its reward (vicarious reinforcement), may remember it (retention), and later copies it (production/imitation).

Essay Question: A child sees an adult hit a Bobo doll and later hits the doll, too. Which theory explains this?

Observational learning: the child imitates behavior modeled by the adult.

Essay Question: A student watches a classmate get punished for disrupting class and decides to remain quiet. Identify the concept.

Vicarious punishment: observing another person being punished makes the student less likely to disrupt class.

Essay Question: Why might a person learn a behavior but not immediately perform it?

They may have observed and remembered the behavior, but their decision to perform it can depend on motivation and expected consequences.

Essay Question: How could observational learning help explain the continuation of aggressive behavior across generations?

Children may observe aggression in adults and imitate it, learning that aggression is an acceptable or effective way to respond to conflict.