Observational Learning or Learning by Imitation

Albert Bandura was born in Alberta, Canada in 1925. Bandura's early work in the 1960's represents one of the bridges from behaviorism to cognitive models for learning. Observational learning is the process of learning by observing a model and then duplicating a skill, process, strategy, or task that is demonstrated by the model. This occurs without overt instructional activity, and the model may not even know he/she is serving as an instrument of learning for the observer. According to Bandura, this type of learning is an information processing activity. 

Observational learning, also called social learning theory, occurs when an observer’s behavior changes after viewing the behavior of a model. An observer’s behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences–called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment– of a model’s behavior.

There are several guiding principles behind observational learning, or social learning theory:

• The observer will imitate the model’s behavior if the model possesses characteristics– things such as talent, intelligence, power, good looks, or popularity–that the observer finds attractive or desirable.

• The observer will react to the way the model is treated and mimic the model’s behavior. When the model’s behavior is rewarded, the observer is more likely to reproduce the rewarded behavior. When the model is punished, an example of vicarious punishment, the observer is less likely to reproduce the same behavior.

• A distinction exists between an observer’s “acquiring” a behavior and “performing” a behavior. Through observation, the observer can acquire the behavior without performing it. The observer may then later, in situations where there is an incentive to do so, display the behavior

In his famous Bobo doll experiment, Bandura demonstrated that children learn and imitate behaviors they have observed in other people. The children in Bandura’s studies observed an adult acting violently toward a Bobo doll. When the children were later allowed to play in a room with the Bobo doll, they began to imitate the aggressive actions they had previously observed.

Bandura identified three basic models of observational learning:

1. A live model, which involves an actual individual demonstrating or acting out a behavior.
2. A verbal instructional model, which involves descriptions and explanations of a behavior.
3. A symbolic model, which involves real or fictional characters displaying behaviors in books, films, television programs, or online media.

Four Elements of Observational Learning: 

1. Attention:

In order for an individual to learn something, they must pay attention to the features of the modeled behaviour.

2. Memory:

Humans need to be able to remember details of the behaviour in order to learn and later reproduce the behaviour.

3. Imitation: 

In reproducing or imitating a behavior, an individual must organize his or her responses in accordance with the model behavior. This ability can improve with practice.

4. Motivation: 

There must be an incentive or motivation driving the individual’s reproduction of the behaviour. Even if all of the above factors are present, the person will not engage in the behaviour without motivation.