Observational Learning Experiences Assignment Unit 2

Learning is a lasting relative change in behavior that is a result of experience or practice. It is distinguished from behavioral changes arising from such processes like illness and maturity but does apply to motor skills, intellectual skills and to attitudes and values. (Learning, 2011) It can be conscious, unconscious or deliberate and it also produces memories, and conversely, the existence of memories implies the knowledge was acquired, the experience was registered and recorded in the brain, or that learning has taken place. (Schacter, 2009) Learning can occur but is not necessarily demonstrated or observed unless there is a motivation for the organism to demonstrate the learnt behavior.

Observational learning is a type of learning that takes place by watching the actions of others. It challenges the theories of classical and operant conditioning which uses reinforcement based explanations. (Schacter, 2009) From generation to generation social behavior is passed down by observational learning. (Schacter, 2009) The rituals and behaviors of a society are not only learned by deliberate training but also through young people observing the behavior patterns of their elders. (Schacter, 2009)

In my opinion, the children in the Bobo experiment learned how to act in aggressive behavior by watching the adult’s behaviors with the doll. Once they observed the adults and were placed in the room with the doll, the behavior was imitated by the children. The depth of their imitation was increased when they were given reinforcements. The study showed how easily memory is created and how powerful that is in young children. The children observed behavior and were provided with reinforcements and because of that it was easy for the children to replicate what they saw to obtain a reward.

Most aspects of how I view observational learning coincide with the Bobo Doll experiment but there are a couple of differences in respect to things I didn’t consider. From looking at the...