Opening the book…
Section Learning Objectives
- Differentiate observational and enactive learning.
- Describe Bandura’s social learning theory.
- Define vicarious reinforcement and punishment.
- Define imitation.
Defining Observational Learning
There are times when we learn by simply watching others. This is called observational learning, and is contrasted with enactive learning, which is learning by doing. There is no firsthand experience by the learner in observational learning, unlike enactive.
As you can learn desirable behaviors such as watching how your father bags groceries at the grocery store (I did this and still bag the same way today), you can learn undesirable ones too. If your parents resort to alcohol consumption to deal with the stressors life presents, then you too might do the same. What is critical is what happens to the model in all of these cases. If my father seems genuinely happy and pleased with himself after bagging groceries his way, then I will be more likely to adopt this behavior. If my mother or father consumes alcohol to feel better when things are tough, and it works, then I might do the same. On the other hand, if we see a sibling constantly getting in trouble with the law then we may not model this behavior due to the negative consequences.
Social Learning Theory
Observational learning can, in fact, be referred to as social learning, and Bandura (1986) proposed a social learning theory, which is composed of observational learning and operant conditioning. How so? Consider that you may learn not to rob the local convenience store because you saw your brother get arrested, prosecuted, and is now spending 10 years in prison. You observed his actions and the consequences of those actions. Remember, there is no firsthand experience. This is called vicarious punishment. If we see a coworker praised by our supervisor for a job well done (and likely going way above and beyond), we will want to behave this way in the future so that we can receive the praise, plaque, extra time off, or monetary award. According to Bandura, this is called vicarious reinforcement and notice that there are both positive and negative reinforcers in the list.
The gist of social learning theory is this: we learn by observing how other people behave and seeing the consequences of their behavior. Later we visualize the consequences (we remember what we saw before) of a particular behavior we would like to make, and decide whether or not to behave in that way. Most likely, if the consequence of the similar behavior was positive then we will make the behavior, but if negative then we will not, in keeping with the principles of operant conditioning.
Imitation
When we use the word imitation, we are implying that we behave in a way that resembles or duplicates the behavior of another person, and that our behavior is novel or not the way we usually act. For instance, in the Avenger’s: Infinity War (2018), Star-Lord imitates Thor’s Asgardian accent and mannerisms out of jealousy. He is jealous for how well-received Thor is when he is first retrieved from outer space, and how much manlier Thor is. In fact, Rocket even asks Star-Lord, “Are you making your voice deeper?” to which he replies, “No” (in Thor-voice). Mantis then points out that he “just did it again.” Star-Lord replies, “This is my voice.” The interaction is comical, but an excellent example of true imitation. Star-Lord does not actually talk like an Asgardian, and so the behavior is novel. In fact, Drax even says that he is “imitating the godman.”
Sometimes we imitate not only a behavior that is reinforced, but any behavior. This tendency is called generalized imitation and is based on the work of Baer and Sherman (1964). In their study, a puppet was used to provide reinforcement in the form of approving comments when children imitated three behaviors that it made — mouthing, head nodding, and speaking nonsense. The puppet did not reinforce level-pressing, a fourth behavior. The more the children imitated the behaviors that were reinforced, the more they imitated the behavior that was not reinforced too. Eventually, the researchers discontinued reinforcing the three behaviors, and the children stopped making them. But the children also stopped pressing the lever. Once reinforcement was re-established for mouthing, head nodding, and speaking nonsense, their frequency increased in the children, as well as the frequency of pressing the lever. The authors concluded that the children had developed a generalized tendency to imitate the model.
This page titled 8.1: What is Observational Learning? was last modified on Sat, 06 Jun 2026 21:30:09 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Lee W. Daffin Jr. via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.
The book could not be loaded just now.