Observational Learning

The film The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a great film with many psychological principles and themes. The film is centered around a couple who have both chosen to receive a procedure that will wipe their memory of each other following their tough breakup. The most prominent principle displayed in the film is retrograde amnesia. Arguably this is what the entire movie was centered around. Another principle, though perhaps less pronounced, would be passionate and companionate love and, of course the difference between them. The third principle, possibly the least apparent of the three, is observational learning, also known as social learning. This principle also involves a fourth, which would be a violation of ethics, however
He then goes on to use both Clementine and Joel’s information to attempt to court Clementine. This is a great example of both observational learning and a violation of the code of ethics. Observational learning is the third principle found in The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The scene in which one can find observational learning is when Patrick, an assistant in the practice, watches Joel and Clementine’s memories, sees methods that worked for Joel in making Clementine fall in love with Joel, and copies them to make Clementine fall in love with him. Observational learning is fairly self-explanatory, as it is learning through watching others (Meyers, 2011). This was used by Patrick as he observed Joel and learned what mistakes not make as well as exactly what to say to Clementine. This principle also encompasses a violation of ethics as Patrick gained this information and used in without the consent of Joel, which is essentially breaking the rule of patient confidentiality. The code of ethics is something that psychologists must consider before performing an experiment however, even though the procedure is not an experiment, in which the rules of ethics could be used, it still holds true that Patrick violated a rule. The
The first and most prominent is the principle of retrograde amnesia. This principle is the only one that is displayed throughout the entire duration of the procedure that is being done of Joel during the majority of the film. The second principle is passionate and companionate love. The movie featured many examples of passionate love, Joel and Clementine, the doctor and the secretary, even the secretary and the boyfriend on whom she cheated, however the film failed to provide an example of companionate love, perhaps because it is no easy task to find it. The final principle was sort of two principles working together. A violation of the code of ethics by Patrick, an assistant, led to him using observational learning to try and gain Clementine’s favor. The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind featured many psychological themes and principles that were displayed by the characters. It was an interesting film and will surely live on the history of psychological