Learning

B

Bandura’s Theory of Imitation

According to Bandura’s influential theory of imitation, also called social learning theory, four factors are necessary for a person to learn through observation and then imitate a behavior: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. First, the learner must pay attention to the crucial details of the model’s behavior. A young girl watching her father bake a cake will not be able to imitate this behavior successfully unless she pays attention to many important details—ingredients, quantities, oven temperature, baking time, and so on. The second factor is retention—the learner must be able to retain all of this information in memory until it is time to use it. If the person forgets important details, he or she will not be able to successfully imitate the behavior. Third, the learner must have the physical skills and coordination needed for reproduction of the behavior. The young girl must have enough strength and dexterity to mix the ingredients, pour the batter, and so on, in order to bake a cake on her own. Finally, the learner must have the motivation to imitate the model. That is, learners are more likely to imitate a behavior if they expect it to lead to some type of reward or reinforcement. If learners expect that imitating the behavior will not lead to reward or might lead to punishment, they are less likely to imitate the behavior.

C

Theory of Generalized Imitation

An alternative to Bandura’s theory is the theory of generalized imitation. This theory states that people will imitate the behaviors of others if the situation is similar to cases in which their imitation was reinforced in the past. For example, when a young child imitates the behavior of a parent or an older sibling, this imitation is often reinforced with smiles, praise, or other forms of approval. Similarly, when children imitate the behaviors of friends, sports stars, or celebrities, this imitation may be reinforced—by the approval of their peers, if not their parents. Through the process of generalization, the child will start to imitate these models in other situations. Whereas Bandura’s theory emphasizes the imitator’s thought processes and motivation, the theory of generalized imitation relies on two basic principles of operant conditioning—reinforcement and generalization.

D

Factors Affecting Imitation

Many factors determine whether or not a person will imitate a model. As already shown, children are more likely to imitate a model when the model’s behavior has been reinforced than when it has been punished. More important, however, are the expected consequences to the learner. A person will imitate a punished behavior if he or she thinks that imitation will produce some type of reinforcement.

The characteristics of the model also influence the likelihood of imitation. Studies have shown that children are more likely to imitate adults who are pleasant and attentive to them than those who are not. In addition, children more often imitate adults who have substantial influence over their lives, such as parents and teachers, and those who seem admired and successful, such as celebrities and athletes. Both children and adults are more likely to imitate models who are similar to them in sex, age, and background. For this reason, when behavior therapists use modeling to teach new behaviors or skills, they try to use models who are similar to the learners.

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E

Influence of Television

In modern society, television provides many powerful models for children and abundant opportunities for observational learning. Many parents are concerned about the behaviors their children can observe on TV. Many television programs include depictions of sex, violence, drug and alcohol use, and vulgar language—behaviors that most parents do not want their children to imitate. Studies have found that by early adolescence, the average American child has watched thousands of dramatized murders and countless other acts of violence on television.

For many years, psychologists have debated the question of whether watching violence on television has detrimental effects on children. A number of experiments, both inside and outside the laboratory, have found evidence that viewing television violence is related to increased aggression in children. Some psychologists have criticized this research, maintaining that the evidence is inconclusive. Most psychologists now believe, however, that watching violence on television can sometimes lead to increased aggressiveness in children.

The effects of television on children’s behaviors are not all negative. Educational programs such as “Sesame Street” give children the opportunity to learn letters of the alphabet, words, numbers, and social skills. Such programs also show people who solve problems and resolve differences through cooperation and discussion rather than through aggression and hostility.

VI

Other Forms of Learning

Although psychologists who study learning have focused the most attention on classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning, they have also studied other types of learning, including language learning, learning by listening and reading, concept formation, and the learning of motor skills. These types of learning still involve the principles of conditioning and observational learning, but they are worth considering separately because of their importance in everyday life.

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