Observational Learning incl. Insight & Latent Learning

A person learns by watching the behaviour demonstrated by another.learning attends to model's behaviour & its consequences and stores a 'mental representation" of it

Models are other individuals demonstrating behaviour to an observer.they can be live (real person) or symbolic (video game, etc)

- Credibility- Likability- Attentiveness- Prestige- Relevance- Similarity

Bandura.

Where we learn from people around us, with or without reinforcement.

36 boys and 36 girls aged between 3-6 years old were chosen from a Stanford Nursery.Independent groups design.Group 1 - no model group 2 - aggressive model group 3 - passive modelResults: Children in group 2 were more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour. Boys were nearly 3 times more likely than girls to imitate the physically violent behaviour by a male model.

Conclusion: Learning can occur in the absence of reinforcers for the observers. This finding was in direct contrast to Skinner's theory of operant conditioning.

Sam method as 1961 experiment but with three different conditions.Group 1 - live aggressive modelGroup 2 - video of the aggressive model Group 3 - aggressive model in cartoon format Group 4 - live passive model.Results: The children who saw the adult role model behave aggressively in any of the conditions were more likely to behave aggressively themselves later.

The live role model was the most influential. The children who saw the aggressive video and cartoon models showed almost twice as much aggression as the children in the control group (group 4).The results added to findings of the 1961 experiment and demonstrated that learning can happen vicariously and without any reinforcers given to either the model or the observer.

Similar to 1963aBut, focus on the influence of consequences of the modelResults: Children who had observed the aggressive model rewarded showed more imitative aggression and copied their model more than children in the group where the aggressive model was punished.

Attention = person must notice the model's behaviour and pay attention to it.

Retention = store a mental representation of the behaviour/skillReproduction = have physical/mental capacity to be able to imitate the behaviour/skillMotivation = desire to replicate the observed behaviour under appropriate circumstancesReinforcement = likelihood of the learner to reproduce the model's behaviour is strengthened by the presence of a pleasant outcome

Where the learner observes the model receiving favourable consequences for the behaviour, and will more likely imitate the model's behaviour.

A mental process in which a sudden, complete and unexpected solution to a problem is achieved.

Experimenting with a chimpanzee called Sultan.Hung a banana from the ceiling of the room and let Sultan deliberate over how to get it.

Sultan didn't make lots of attempts to get the banana, but after pacing around the room he suddenly pushed a box under the banana and got it.

Preparation - attempts to solve the problem in any way they can think ofIncubation - temporarily gives up and decides to do something else (but the brain keeps trying to solve the problem)Insight - the 'Aha!' experience when the person suddenly realises how to solve the problemVerification - the hard work of applying the solution and making sure it works.

Once a problem has been solved by insight, the learning is usually permanent - if problem comes up again, solution is immediate.Solution is complete when it is first thought of.

refers to a situation in which learning has taken place but the behaviour has not yet been demonstrated.

Attention - pay attention to the modelRetention - where we store a mental representation of the skill/behaviour observed.Reproduction - is conditional on having the mental and physical ability to perform the action(At this stage - learning is Latent as the behaviour has not yet been performed.)Motivation - where a stimulus will make us want to perform the action. Once we perform the action, it is not longer latentReinforcement - If we receive a good result for the behaviour, we will perform it again!

3 groups of hungry rats and a mazeGroup 1 - box of food always fullGroup 2 - food box always emptyGroup 3 - food box empty for 10 days then full from day 11 onwards.Group 1 - produced standard learning curve - gradual reduction of time taken to run the mazeGroup 2 - showed little variation in time taken over all the daysGroup 3 - showed little variation in time taken for the first 10 days but there was a dramatic decrease in the time taken from day 11 onwardsConclusion: Rats had formed a cognitive map of the maze but until there was good reason (motivation), they didn't show the behaviour to solve the maze.

A mental representation of the layout of an environment.linked to hippocampus - involved in consolidation of spatial maps.