Observational Learning

Classical Conditioning Versus OpeObservational Learning: Ways to Benefit From Observation
Observational Learning: Ways to Benefit From Observation

Observational learning (social learning) is learning by the experience of others. People naturally tend to imitate, or model the behavior of significant others (Nairne 250). An observer 's behavior can be affected by the positive or negative consequences--called vicarious reinforcement or vicarious punishment-- of a model 's behavior. The observer will react to the way the model is treated and mimic the model 's behavior (Funderstanding par. 1). When the model 's behavior is rewarded during vicarious reinforcement the observer is more likely to repeat the rewarded behavior. When the model is
American children between three and fourteen years of age watch more than three hours of television per day. Television is an important socializing agent in today’s society, and many programs are aimed at educating children. The most known and successful program that is aimed towards preschool children is Sesame Street (Pellegrini 110-11).

Early Studies by Ball and Bogatz evaluated the effects that Sesame Street had on preschool children. A group of preschool children were tested on their basic cognitive skills (including knowledge of letters, numbers, and geometric forms) prior to watching the show. Some children were asked to watch Sesame Street and others were not. They were then tested on their cognitive skills and the amount of cognitive gain children showed was directly related to how much they had watched the show (Pellegrini 111).

More recent research has studied the effect of watching Sesame Street on children’s vocabulary development. Children three to five were observed for two years as they continuously watched Sesame Street on a daily basis. Researchers noticed that changes in their vocabulary were related to their television habits. The results showed that Sesame Street had a positive effect on the vocabulary development (Pellegrini
Research on robotic social learning often focuses on observational learning at one end to follow or matched-dependent behavior at the other (“Experimental” par. 1). The researchers tell us: Physical Khepera robots with minimal sensory capabilities are used, and after training, experiments are carried out where an imitating robot perceives the dynamic movement behaviors of another model robot carrying a light source. It learns the movement behavior of the model by either statically observing the model. The robot then re-enacts the learnt behavior (“Experimental” par.