Editing Observational learning (section)

==Effect on behavior==
[[File:Learning djembe.jpg|thumbnail|Learning to play Djembe]]
According to Bandura's social cognitive learning theory, observational learning can affect behavior in many ways, with both positive and negative consequences. It can teach completely new behaviors, for one. It can also increase or decrease the frequency of behaviors that have previously been learned. Observational learning can even encourage behaviors that were previously forbidden (for example, the violent behavior towards the Bobo doll that children imitated in Albert Bandura's study). Observational learning can also influence behaviors that are similar to, but not identical to, the ones being modeled. For example, seeing a model excel at playing the piano may motivate an observer to play the saxophone.

===Age difference===
[[Albert Bandura]] stressed that developing children learn from different social models, meaning that no two children are exposed to exactly the same modeling influence. From [[infancy]] to [[adolescence]], they are exposed to various social models. A 2013 study found that a toddlers' previous social familiarity with a model was not always necessary for learning and that they were also able to learn from observing a stranger demonstrating or modeling a new action to another stranger.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Shimpi | first1 = Priya M. | last2 = Akhtar | first2 = Nameera | last3 = Moore | first3 = Chris | year = 2013 | title = Toddlers' Imitative Learning in Interactive and Observational Contexts: The Role of Age and Familiarity of the Model | journal = Journal of Experimental Child Psychology | volume = 116 | issue = 2| pages = 309–23 | doi=10.1016/j.jecp.2013.06.008| pmid = 23896415 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

It was once believed that babies could not imitate actions until the latter half of the first year. However, a number of studies now report that infants as young as seven days can imitate simple facial expressions. By the latter half of their first year, 9-month-old babies can imitate actions hours after they first see them. As they continue to develop, toddlers around age two can acquire important personal and [[social skills]] by imitating a social model.

[[Imitation|Deferred imitation]] is an important developmental milestone in a two-year-old, in which children not only construct symbolic representations but can also remember information.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Meltzoff | first1 = A | year = 1988 | title = Infants imitation after 1-week delay: Long -Term memory for novel acts and multiple stimuli | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 24 | issue = 4| pages = 470–476 | doi=10.1037/0012-1649.24.4.470 | pmid=25147404 | pmc=4137879}}</ref> Unlike toddlers, children of [[elementary school]] age are less likely to rely on imagination to represent an experience. Instead, they can verbally describe the model's behavior.<ref>Bandura, A. (1989). Social Cognitive Theory. In R. Vasta (ED.), Annals of Child Development: Vol. 6. Theories of child development: Revised formulation and current issue (pp.1-60). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press</ref> Since this form of learning does not need reinforcement, it is more likely to occur regularly.

As age increases, age-related observational learning motor skills may decrease in athletes and golfers.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Law | first1 = Barbi | last2 = Hall | first2 = Craig | s2cid = 24462098 | year = 2009 | title = The Relationships Among Skill Level, Age, and Golfers' Observational Learning Use | journal = The Sport Psychologist | volume = 23 | issue = 1| page = 42 | doi = 10.1123/tsp.23.1.42 }}</ref> Younger and skilled golfers have higher observational learning compared to older golfers and less skilled golfers.

===Observational causal learning===
Humans use observational Moleen causal learning to watch other people's actions and use the information gained to find out how something works and how we can do it ourselves.

A study of 25-month-old infants found that they can learn causal relations from observing human interventions. They also learn by observing normal actions not created by intentional human action.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Meltzoff | first1 = A. N. | author-link = Andrew N. Meltzoff | last2 = Waismeyer | first2 = A. | last3 = Gopnik | first3 = A. | author3-link = Alison Gopnik | year = 2012 | title = Learning about causes from people: Observational causal learning in 24-month-old infants | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 48 | issue = 5| pages = 1215–1228 | doi = 10.1037/a0027440 | pmid=22369335 | pmc=3649070}}</ref>

===Comparisons with imitation===
Observational learning is presumed to have occurred when an organism copies an improbable action or action outcome that it has observed and the matching behavior cannot be explained by an alternative mechanism. Psychologists have been particularly interested in the form of observational learning known as imitation and in how to distinguish imitation from other processes. To successfully make this distinction, one must separate the degree to which behavioral similarity results from (a) [[Genetic predisposition|predisposed behavior]], (b) increased motivation resulting from the presence of another animal, (c) attention drawn to a place or object, (d) learning about the way the environment works, as distinguished from what we think of as (e) imitation (the copying of the demonstrated behavior).<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Zentall | first1 = Thomas R | year = 2012 | title = Perspectives On Observational Learning In Animals | journal = Journal of Comparative Psychology | volume = 126 | issue = 2| pages = 114–128 | doi=10.1037/a0025381| pmid = 21895354 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.401.6916 }}</ref>

Observational learning differs from [[imitative learning]] in that it does not require a duplication of the behavior exhibited by the model. For example, the learner may observe an unwanted behavior and the subsequent consequences, and thus learn to refrain from that behavior. For example, Riopelle (1960) found that monkeys did better with observational learning if they saw the "tutor" monkey make a mistake before making the right choice.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Riopelle | first1 = A.J. | year = 1960 | title = Observational learning of a position habit by monkeys | journal = Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology | volume = 53 | issue = 5| pages = 426–428 | doi=10.1037/h0046480| pmid = 13741799 }}</ref> Heyes (1993) distinguished imitation and non-imitative social learning in the following way: imitation occurs when animals learn about behavior from observing conspecifics, whereas non-imitative social learning occurs when animals learn about the environment from observing others.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Heyes | first1 = C. M. | s2cid = 53164177 | year = 1993 | title = Imitation, culture and cognition | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 46 | issue = 5| pages = 999–1010 | doi=10.1006/anbe.1993.1281}}</ref>

Not all imitation and learning through observing is the same, and they often differ in the degree to which they take on an active or passive form. [[John Dewey]] describes an important distinction between two different forms of imitation: imitation as an end in itself and imitation with a purpose.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dewey|first1=John|title=Democracy and Education|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.219789|date=1916|publisher=Macmillan Co.|location=New York}}</ref> Imitation as an end is more akin to mimicry, in which a person copies another's act to repeat that action again. This kind of imitation is often observed in animals. Imitation with a purpose utilizes the imitative act as a means to accomplish something more significant. Whereas the more passive form of imitation as an end has been documented in some European American communities, the other kind of more active, purposeful imitation has been documented in other communities around the world.

Observation may take on a more active form in children's learning in multiple [[Child development of the indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous American communities]]. [[Ethnographic]] [[anthropological]] studies in Yucatec Mayan and Quechua Peruvian communities provide evidence that the home or community-centered economic systems of these cultures allow children to witness first-hand, activities that are meaningful to their own livelihoods and the overall well-being of the community.<ref name="Alta Mira Press">{{cite book|last1=Gaskins|first1=Paradise|title=The Anthropology of Learning in Childhood|publisher=Alta Mira Press|pages=Chapter 5}}</ref> These children have the opportunity to observe activities that are relevant within the context of that community, which gives them a reason to sharpen their attention to the practical knowledge they are exposed to. This does not mean that they have to observe the activities even though they are present. The children often make an active decision to stay in attendance while a community activity is taking place to observe and learn.<ref name="Alta Mira Press"/> This decision underscores the significance of this learning style in many indigenous American communities. It goes far beyond learning mundane tasks through rote imitation; it is central to children's gradual transformation into informed members of their communities' unique practices. There was also a study, done with children, that concluded that Imitated behavior can be recalled and used in another situation or the same.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = McLaughlin | first1 = L. J. | last2 = Brinley | first2 = J. F. | year = 1973 | title = Age and observational learning of a multiple-classification task | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 9–15 | doi = 10.1037/h0035069 }}</ref>

===Apprenticeship===
[[Apprenticeship]] can involve both observational learning and modelling. Apprentices gain their skills in part through working with masters in their profession and through observing and evaluating the work of their fellow apprentices. Examples include renaissance inventor/painter Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo; before succeeding in their profession, they were apprentices.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Groenendijk | first1 = Talita | last2 = Janssen | first2 = Tanja | last3 = Rijlaarsdam | first3 = Gert | last4 = Huub Van | first4 = Den Bergh | year = 2013 | title = Learning to Be Creative. The Effects of Observational Learning on Students' Design Products and Processes | journal = Learning and Instruction | volume = 28 | pages = 35–47 | doi=10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.05.001}}</ref>

===Learning without imitation===
[[Michael Tomasello]] described various ways of observational learning without the process of imitation in animals<ref>Tomasello, M. (1999). The cultural origins of human cognition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 248 pp.</ref> ([[ethology]]):
* Exposure – Individuals learn about their environment through close proximity to other individuals that have more experience. For example, a young dolphin learning the location of a plethora of fish by staying near its mother.
* [[Stimulus (psychology)|Stimulus]] enhancement – Individuals become interested in an object from watching others interact with it.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Spence | first1 = K. W. | year = 1937 | title = Experimental studies of learning and higher mental processes in infra-human primates | journal = Psychological Bulletin | volume = 34 | issue = 10| pages = 806–850 | doi=10.1037/h0061498}}</ref> Increased interest in an object may result in object manipulation, which facilitates new object-related behaviors by trial-and-error learning. For example, a young killer whale might become interested in playing with a sea lion pup after watching other whales toss the sea lion pup around. After playing with the pup, the killer whale may develop foraging behaviors appropriate to such prey. In this case, the killer whale did not learn to prey on sea lions by observing other whales do so, but rather the killer whale became intrigued after observing other whales play with the pup. After the killer whale became interested, then its interactions with the sea lion resulted in behaviors that provoked future foraging efforts.
* Goal [[emulation (observational learning)|emulation]] – Individuals are enticed by the end result of an observed behavior and attempt the same outcome but with a different method. For example, Haggerty (1909) devised an experiment in which a monkey climbed up the side of a cage, stuck its arm into a wooden chute, and pulled a rope in the chute to release food. Another monkey was provided an opportunity to obtain the food after watching a monkey go through this process on four separate occasions. The monkey performed a different method and finally succeeded after trial and error.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Haggerty | first1 = M. E. | year = 1909 | title = Imitation in monkeys | url =https://zenodo.org/record/1426775 | journal = Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology | volume = 19 | issue = 4| pages = 337–455 | doi=10.1002/cne.920190402}}</ref>

===Peer model influences===
Observational learning is very beneficial when there are positive, reinforcing peer models involved. Although individuals go through four different stages for observational learning: attention; retention; production; and motivation, this does not simply mean that when an individual's attention is captured that it automatically sets the process in that exact order. One of the most important ongoing stages for observational learning, especially among children, is motivation and [[Reinforcement|positive reinforcement]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Shaffer |first1=D.R. |title=Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence |last2=Kipp |first2=K. |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2013}}</ref>

Performance is enhanced when children are positively instructed on how they can improve a situation and where children actively participate alongside a more skilled person. Examples of this are scaffolding and guided participation. Scaffolding refers to an expert responding contingently to a novice so the novice gradually increases their understanding of a problem. Guided participation refers to an expert actively engaging in a situation with a novice so the novice participates with or observes the adult to understand how to resolve a problem.<ref>Schaffer, David et al. (2010). Developmental Psychology, Childhood and Adolescence. 284</ref>