PSY 0010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Albert Bandura, Rhesus Macaque, Social Learning Theory
Document Summary
Observational learning: a condition in which learning takes place by watching the actions of others. Albert bandura (1925-) studied aggressive observational learning using the bobo doll experiment. Children imitated adult behaviors and were sensitive to the consequences of their aggressive behavior. Diffusion chain: a process in which individuals initially learn a behavior by observing another individual perform that behavior, and then serve as a model from which other individuals learn the behavior. Social in uence on learning observation and imitation instead of reinforcement. Pigeons have used observational learning to learn to get reinforced for pecking behavior. Rhesus monkeys learned to fear snakes through an observational diffusion chain, also exemplifying a biological predisposition to fear snakes. Chimpanzees learned to use a novel tool through observational learning, although children (using the same paradigm) showed greater learning of the function of the tool. Mirror neurons re to observational learning in humans as well as other animal species.
