Observational learning
In humans, this form of learning seems to not need reinforcement to occur, but instead, requires a social model such as a parent, sibling, friend, or teacher with surroundings.
A child may learn to swear, smack, smoke, and deem other inappropriate behavior acceptable through poor modeling.
Some cultures expect children to actively participate in their communities and are therefore exposed to different trades and roles on a daily basis.
For instance, the Bobo doll experiment shows that the model, in a determined environment, affects children's behavior.
This incorporation into the adult world at an early age allows children to use observational learning skills in multiple spheres of life.
This motivation can come from external reinforcement, such as the experimenter's promise of reward in some of Bandura's studies, or the bribe of a parent.
Deferred imitation is an important developmental milestone in a two-year-old, in which children not only construct symbolic representations but can also remember information.
Humans use observational Moleen causal learning to watch other people's actions and use the information gained to find out how something works and how we can do it ourselves.
[20] These children have the opportunity to observe activities that are relevant within the context of that community, which gives them a reason to sharpen their attention to the practical knowledge they are exposed to.
It goes far beyond learning mundane tasks through rote imitation; it is central to children's gradual transformation into informed members of their communities' unique practices.
Another example is seen in the immersion of children in some Indigenous communities of the Americas into the adult world and the effects it has on observational learning and the ability to complete multiple tasks simultaneously.
The classroom setting is one significant example, and it functions differently for Indigenous communities compared to what is commonly present in Western schooling.
The emphasis of keen observation in favor of supporting participation in ongoing activities strives to aid children to learn the important tools and ways of their community.
[31] The learner's intrinsic motivations play an important role in the child's understanding and construction of meaning in these educational experiences.
A learner must be actively engaged with their demonstrations and experiences in order to fully comprehend and apply the knowledge they obtain.
[32] Children from indigenous heritage communities of the Americas often learn through observation, a strategy that can carry over into adulthood.
The exposure to an uncensored adult lifestyle allows children to observe and learn the skills and practices that are valued in their communities.
[33] In native northern Canadian and indigenous Mayan communities, children often learn as third-party observers from stories and conversations by others.
[33] The framework of learning how to weave through observation can serve as a model that groups within a society use as a reference to guide their actions in particular domains of life.
[41] Communities that participate in observational learning promote tolerance and mutual understand of those coming from different cultural backgrounds.
The experimenters exposed wild crows to a unique "dangerous face" mask as they trapped, banded, and released 7-15 birds at five different study places around Seattle, WA.
The ability of crows to learn doubled the frequency of scolding, which spread at least 1.2 km from where the experiment started to over a 5-year period at one site.
In experiment 1, human-raised monkeys observed a familiar human model open a foraging box using a tool in one of two alternate ways: levering or poking.
Mother-reared monkeys instead typically ignored the tool and exhibited fidelity at a lower level, tending only to re-create whichever result the model had achieved by either levering or poking.
Results in both populations are consistent with a process of canalization of the repertoire in the direction of the approach witnessed, producing a narrower, socially shaped behavioral profile than among controls who saw no model.
[52] Pinkham and Jaswal (2011) did an experiment to see if a child would learn how to turn on a light box by watching a parent.
Lastly, the third group was a peer coping group, whose subjects watched a video of similar-aged children who progressed from low task performances and low confidence statements to high task performances and high confidence statements.
[56] There are multiple important variables that aid in modifying physical skills and psychological responses from an observational learning standpoint.
[63] Discrete trial training (DTT) is a structured and systematic approach utilized in helping individuals with autism spectrum disorder learn.
[64] Individuals with autism tend to struggle with learning through observation, therefore something that is reinforcing is necessary in order to motivate them to imitate or follow through with the task.
