What Is Observational Learning?

Observation learning refers to that people can learn some complex behaviors simply by observing the behavior of others (examples) and their results. It is also known as alternative learning and no-attempt learning. Bandura believes that all the sociological behaviors of human beings are formed through the observation and study of others' demonstration behaviors and their results under the influence of social environment. It is not necessary to make a direct behavior, does not depend on direct reinforcement, is cognitive, not equivalent to imitation, and can improve learning efficiency.

Chinese name: Observation learning

Foreign name: learning from observation
Applied discipline: psychology

Introduction to Observational Learning Theory

Observational learning is also called no-trial learning or alternative learning. It refers to acquiring the information by observing the behaviors, actions and results of the learning objects, and then processing, identifying, and internalizing the learning subject's brain, and then incorporating the learned behaviors into their own actions, behaviors, and concepts A learning method reflected.

Observational learning is a concept proposed by American psychologist Bandura in the 1960s. According to Bandura, because people have the ability to obtain information and self-regulation through verbal and non-verbal forms, individuals can learn by observing the behaviors and results of others (models) without having to experience everything firsthand To complex behavioral responses. That is to say, in observing learning, learners do not have to react directly or experience reinforcement in person. As long as they observe the behavior of others in a certain environment, and observe others to accept certain reinforcement, they can complete the learning. An individual can obtain a certain cognitive appearance by observing the behavior of others, and use it to guide his future behaviors, so that he reduces unnecessary trial and error. Obviously, observational learning is fundamentally different from Skinner's reinforcement learning and Thorndike's trial and error learning. ^[1]

Observation learning experiment

The experimental basis of Bandura observation and learning: the inflatable doll experiment. Bandura, a well-known psychologist, once conducted an experiment in which children imitated attacks on inflatable dolls. In this experiment, the experimenter first asked the child to watch a video of an adult attacking an inflatable doll, and then a group of children saw that the adult was rewarded, that is, the experimenter praised him as a hero. The other group of children saw that the adult was punished, that is, the experimenter criticized him. After that, the children were brought into a room with inflatable dolls, and told the children that they could play freely, while the experimenter came out and hid behind one-way glass.

The experimental results show that children learn to imitate during the experiment. That is to imitate the behavior of adults. In the process of imitation, children also learn to evaluate the results accordingly. After entering the room, the children in the second group were significantly less likely to attack the inflatable dolls than the children in the first group.

In daily life, many parents often only pay attention to children's academic performance and ignore the development of children's early behavioral habits. What's more, parents don't play a good role in their own behavior. Moreover, some parents, when the child occasionally showed a little aggressiveness, not only did the parents not correct it, but they also happily praised the child for learning. In this way, children's aggressiveness naturally develops.

Observe learning role models

Example: Bandura believes that anyone who can be a learner's observation object can be called a role model or model. The role model is not necessarily a living person. He can also be a person (such as a person in a film or television) or something, an animal, etc. in a symbolic form. Bandura believes that there are three types of role models:

1. Living example. Specific living people;

2. Symbolic example. Means a role model through language or video images;

3. Exemplary commandments. In other words, a model with typical characteristics is described or visualized in language to warn children to learn or learn from a model's behavior.

Observational Learning Type

Bandura divides observational learning into three types according to different levels of observational learning by observers:

1. Direct observation learning, that is, learners' simple imitation of demonstration behavior;

2. Abstract observation and learning, learners obtain certain rules or principles of behavior from the behavior of the demonstrator;

3. Creative observation and learning, learners extract different behavior characteristics from different demonstration behaviors, and form a new behavior mode.

Observe the basic process of learning

Bandura believes that the observational learning process includes four sub-processes, namely the attention process; the retention process; the motion reproduction process and the motivation process.

Observe the learning process

Observational learning begins with the learner's attention to the behavior of the modeler.

If the learner fails to pay attention to important characteristics of the demonstration behavior, or is not aware of it correctly, he / she cannot learn by observation. Therefore, the attention process is the beginning of observational learning.

Bandura believes that many factors of the attention process affect the effectiveness of learning. The relationship between observers and demonstrators is crucial. The object of an individual's interaction, whether he chooses it or is forced, limits the type of behavior he can learn.

The reason why "Meng Xi Meng" wanted to "choose a neighbourhood" was because she was worried that Mencius would imitate neighbors' bad behavior patterns. In addition, the charm of the sample list is an important factor affecting learners' attention. Of course, the clarity and complexity of the demonstration behavior is also one of the factors affecting attention.

Observe the learning retention process

That is, the information obtained in words and images is converted into appropriate representations and stored.

Obviously, observation is meaningless if the observer cannot remember the demonstration. Observation learning maintains demonstration behaviors based on two storage systems: the representation system and the speech coding system.

The appearance system stores the demonstration behavior in memory in the form of appearance, so that in some future occasions, even if the objective thing does not exist, the appearance of the thing can still be evoked. Especially for a learner whose appearance system has established a connection with a speech coding system, as long as they hear the speech signal stimulation of something, they can arouse the appearance of the thing.

The role of speech coding systems in observational learning is particularly important. Because some of the characteristics of the demonstration behavior are converted into the form of speech coding, which can be more accurately maintained and reproduced. Retention of demonstration behaviors, in addition to coding and cognitive organization of the demonstration behaviors, restatement of demonstration behaviors will improve the effect of retention. The highest level of observational learning is to organize and repeat the demonstration activities with symbols before putting them into external action.

Observational learning movement reproduction

Transform the appearances in memory into behaviors, and adjust behaviors based on feedback to respond correctly.

Because this process involves a series of cognitive and behavioral operations, such as the cognitive organization of motion reproduction and the adjustment of behaviors based on information feedback, Bandura breaks down this process into: the cognitive organization of the reaction, the initiation of the reaction, the reaction Monitoring and relying on information feedback to improve and adjust the response. In fact, whether the demonstration behavior can be reproduced depends on whether the parts of the demonstration behavior in the learner's memory are complete and whether the learner has the skills to reproduce these behaviors, and the learner's monitoring and information feedback capabilities determine the accuracy of the demonstration behavior.

Observe the learning motivation process

After being able to reproduce the demonstration behavior, whether the learner can often show that the demonstration behavior is also affected by the behavior outcome factors.

It is believed that there are three factors that influence learners to reproduce demonstration behavior:

1. Evaluation of others' demonstration behavior;

2. The learner's own assessment of his ability to reproduce behavior;

3. Evaluation of the model by others.

Bandura refers to these three evaluations of behavioral results as external reinforcement, self-reinforcement, and alternative reinforcement. These three enhancements are important driving forces that restrict the reproduction of demonstration behavior. Bandura therefore sees them as a motivational force for learners to reproduce exemplary behavior.

Observational learning is carried out by observing the exemplary behavior of role models, so the conditions of role models can affect learning.

Bandura believes that the ideal role model should have five conditions:

1. The demonstration of role models must be prominent and vivid in order to attract the learners' attention;

2. The demonstration of role models should be consistent with the age characteristics of learners;

3. The behavior of role models must be feasible for learners, that is, learners can do it, which is the most basic condition;

4, the behavior of the role model must be trustworthy, that is, believe that the role model does something out of its own requirements, and not have another purpose;

5. The behavior of the example should be touching, so that the learners will resonate psychologically, and then the learners will show similar behaviors. ^[2]

Observe the characteristics of learning theory

First, observational learning does not necessarily have explicit behavioral responses. Bandura believes that people can avoid many unnecessary mistakes by observing other people's demonstration behaviors and have learned how to do them before they have shown behaviors. He pointed out that if you can only learn by trial and error, your life will be at risk, such as learning to swim and driving a car.

Second, observational learning does not rely on direct reinforcement. Because observers can learn complex behavioral processes simply by observing the behavior of others, there is no need to experience reinforcement in person. Bantula believes that reinforcement is not a key factor in observational learning. Without reinforcement, observational learning can still happen.

Third, observational learning is cognitive. Individuals can learn complex reactions by observing the behavior of others, and this learning is undoubtedly cognitive. Bantula believes that observational learning is basically a cognitive process. Observers need to use internal behavioral images to guide their behaviors, and learning activities necessarily involve internal cognitive processes.

Fourth, observational learning is not the same as imitation. Imitation only refers to the learner's simple copy of others' behavior, while observational learning refers to obtaining information from the behaviors of others and their consequences. Observational learning may or may not include imitation.

Observational learning basic types

From Bantula's discussion of observational learning, we can summarize several basic types of observational learning.

Direct observational learning is also called behavioral observational learning. Refers to a simple imitation of demonstration behavior. Most observational learning in daily life falls into this category.

Abstract observational learning refers to the observer obtaining certain rules or principles of behavior from the actions of others. In the future, under certain conditions, observers will show behaviors that can reflect these rules or principles, but they do not need to imitate the special reaction modes observed.

Creative observation learning refers to that observers can combine the characteristics of different role models into new hybrids that are different from the characteristics of individual role models, that is, extracting different behavior characteristics from different demonstration behaviors, thereby forming a new behavior the way. Creativity manifests itself in that observers, inspired by the actions of others, arrange and combine their original behavioral components to form a new way of reaction.

Observational learning theory evaluation

Bantula pointed out that behavioral operations are mainly influenced by three types of incentives. One type is a direct cause, also called an external cause. If the behavior obtained can lead to valuable results, people tend to manipulate the behavior obtained through observation. Conversely, it will weaken the tendency to operate this behavior. These external incentives can take the form of material rewards, positive or negative social evaluations, and pleasant or uncomfortable sensory stimuli. One is alternative incentives. Among the behaviors obtained through observation, those that are useful to others are easier to show than those that are not useful to others. Seeing others 'success increases their tendency to behave in this way, and reduces the tendency to behave if others' behavior is punished. Another type is self-motivation. Evaluation of one's own behavior regulates people's performance of behaviors learned through observation. People are more willing to show behaviors that satisfy themselves and give up behaviors that are boring to themselves ^[2] .

Bandura believes that the four sub-processes of observational learning are closely connected and cannot be completely separated. If the observer is unable to reproduce the demonstration behavior, the reasons may be: not paying attention to the relevant activity; improperly coding the demonstration behavior in the memory representation; what he has learned cannot be kept in memory; he lacks the ability to operate; he does not have enough Incentive-driven.