Observational Learning Essay

Observational learning occurs when we observe the actions of another and note the consequences of that person’s actions, then decide whether to imitate them or not. In other words, modelling is any process in which information is imparted by example, before direct practice is allowed (rosenthal & Steffek, 1991). It has been found that children as young as 21 days old have been shown to imitate facial expressions and mouth movements.
For observational learning to occur, several factors must be involved.
Attention; The extent to which we are exposed/notice the behaviour.
Retention; the learner must remember (retain) what was done by the model so that the information can be encoded and stored for later use.
Reproduction; This is the ability to perform the behaviour that the model has just demonstrated.
Motivation/reinforcement; the learner must have the desire, or motivation, to repeat the observed behaviour in order to receive a reward. The rewards and punishment that follow a behaviour will be considered by the observer. If the perceived

In a series of classic experiments by Albert Bandura in the 1960s, preschool-aged children watched an adult attack a large blow-up clown: the Bo-Bo doll. His experiments demonstrated that young children would imitate the violent and aggressive actions of an adult model. In the experiment, children observed a film in which an adult repeatedly hit a large, inflatable balloon doll. After viewing the film clip, children were allowed to play in a room with a real Bobo doll just like the one they saw in the film. What Bandura found was that children were more likely to imitate the adult 's violent actions when the adult either received no consequences or when the adult was actually rewarded for their violent actions. Children who saw film clips in which the adult was punished for this aggressive behavior were less likely to repeat the behaviors later