Observational learning, which relies on the observation of another person’s behavior and the related consequences, determines whether an observer will imitate the behavior.
Consider the following scenario:
You are approaching the checkout lanes at the grocery store. Several people are in each line in front of you when another cashier appears under the premise that she will be opening her lane to check out customers. As you wait in line, the person directly in front of you sees the cashier approach and begins to head in that direction. Do you follow the other person? If the cashier says, “I can take the next person in line,” the person who was in front of you would not have been the next person in line to be served.
For this Discussion, you will explore the role of observational learning in the acquisition of new behaviors.
To Prepare
- Review the Learning Resources for this week, including the required weekly media programs, to develop an understanding of observational learning.
- Consider a behavior in your personal life or from a person with whom you are familiar and whose behavior you know, and provide an example of where observational learning played a role in the acquisition of a new behavior.
Resources
- Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied behavior analysis (3rd ed.). Pearson.
- Chapter 21, “Imitation, Modeling, and Observational Learning” (pp. 527–539)
- Vivanti, G., & Hamilton, A. (2014). Imitation in autism spectrum disorders.Links to an external site. In F. R. Volkmar, S. J. Rogers, R. Paul, & K. A. Pelphrey (Eds.), Handbook of autism and pervasive developmental disorders: Diagnosis, development, and brain mechanisms (pp. 278–301). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.