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Observational Learning. Or Social Learning Or Vicarious Learning . Does Not Rely on Associations. Definition. Learning by observing others Observational learning in every day life Role Models Watching a cooking show Watching a famous athlete Watching your peers/siblings
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Observational Learning Or Social Learning Or Vicarious Learning
Definition • Learning by observing others • Observational learning in every day life • Role Models • Watching a cooking show • Watching a famous athlete • Watching your peers/siblings • A baby may imitate a person sticking out their tongue shorty after birth • By 14 months, children imitate things seen on TV • Banning of cigarette commercials • Fashion • Studied by social-learning theorists
Mirror Neurons • Neurons (in frontal lobe) that fire when observing other people perform certain actions • Mirroring of another’s action may enable imitation and empathy • Remember the guy who cut his finger in the Brain Games video?
Albert Bandura • Famous Bobo Doll experiments • Result: All children modeled aggressive behavior • Slightly less aggressive behavior was modeled by those who saw the model being punished
“Pow, right in the nose” • “Sockeroo, stay down”
Effective Modeling Needs… • Attention • Retention • Reproduction • Motivation • Most effective when the model is similar to us • Actions and words need to be consistent
Do We Only Model Bad Things? • No! • Prosocial Behaviors: positive, constructive, helpful behaviors • Gandhi and MLK Jr.: Relied on modeling nonviolent behavior • Antisocial Behaviors: Negative behaviors
Stats About TV and Violence • By the time you are 18, you will have spent more time watching TV than in school • If you live to 75, that means you will have watched 9 years of TV in your life • In the 1990s, a typical 5th grader had witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence • Didn’t include cable TV or movies • Research from ‘96-7 shows that 74% of TV violence goes un punished • Correlations: • In the U.S. and Canada, homicide rates doubled between 1957 and 1974 (time when TV was introduced) • Children who have heavy exposure to media violence tend to get in more fights
Cont… • Experiments show… • Violence on TV does lead to aggressive behavior • Especially true when “an attractive person commits seemingly justified, realistic violence that goes unpunished” • Explanation for the violence-viewing effect? • Imitation • Desensitization