OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Acquired new information, forms of behaviour, or even abstract rules and concepts from watching the actions of other people and the consequences they experiences is called observational learning. That is, learning by watching others. The proponent is Albert Bandura.
Steps in observational learning
1) Attend and perceive the behaviour
2) Remembering the coded behaviour
3) Converting the memory to action
4) Reinforcement of the initiated behaviour.
Observational learning is efficient and adaptive. It occurs in both animals and human. E.g. young chimpanzees learn how to use a stone to crack open nuts by watching their mothers perform this action. And there is no need of checking whether a door is locked or an iron is hot if someone else is seen trying the door or suffering a burn.Children are particularly influenced by the adults and peers who act as models for appropriate behaviour in various situations. In a classic experiment (Bandura, 1965), children watched an adult attack a large blow up Bo-Bo doll. Some children saw an adult sit on the doll, punch it, hit it with a hammer, and kick it around the room. There were different endings for the film. Some children saw an ending in which the aggressive adult was called a “champion” by another adult, and was rewarded with candy and soft drinks. Some saw that the aggressor was scolded and was called a bad person. A third group saw a neutral ending, in which there was neither reward nor punishment. After the film, each child was allowed to play alone with a Bo-Bo doll. Bandura found that children who saw the adult rewarded for aggression showed the most aggressive acts in their play. They were vicariously reinforced to imitate the aggressive actions. Those who had seen the adult punished for aggressive acts initially showed less aggression, but they still learned something.