observational learning essay

Observational Learning In Psychology

Charlotte Nickerson

Research Assistant at Harvard University

Undergraduate at Harvard University

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Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

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Key Takeaways

• Observational learning involves acquiring skills or new or changed behaviors through watching the behavior of others.
• The person or actor performing the action that the observational learner replicates is called a model.
• The educational psychologist Albert Bandura was the first to recognize observational learning through his Bobo Doll experiment.
• Observational learning consists of attentive, retentive, reproductive, and motivational processes.
• Observational learning pervades how children, as well as adults, learn to interact with and behave in the world.

Observational learning, otherwise known as vicarious learning, is the acquisition of information, skills, or behavior through watching others perform, either directly or through another medium, such as video.

Those who do experiments on animals alternatively define observational learning as the conditioning of an animal to perform an act that it observes in a member of the same or a different species.

For example, a mockingbird could learn to imitate the song patterns of other kinds of birds.

The Canadian-American psychologist Albert Bandura was one of the first to recognize the phenomenon of observational learning (Bandura, 1985).

His theory, social learning theory, stresses the importance of observation and modeling of behaviors, attitudes, and the emotional reactions of others.

Stages of Observational Learning

Bandura (1985) found that humans, who are social animals, naturally gravitate toward observational learning. For example, children may watch their family members and mimic their behaviors.

In observational learning, people learn by watching others and then imitating or modeling what they do or say. Thus, the individuals or objects performing the imitated behavior are called models (Bandura, 1985).

Even infants may start imitating the mouth movements and facial expressions of the adults around them.

There are four processes that Bandura’s research identified as influencing observational learning: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation (Debell, 2021).

• In order to learn, observers must pay attention to their environment. The attention levels of a learned person can vary based on the characteristics of the model and the environment where they are learning the behavior.
• These variables can include how similar the model is to the observer and the observer’s current mood. Humans, Bandura (1985) proposed, are likely to pay attention to the behaviors of models that are high-status, talented, intelligent, or similar to the learner in some way.
• For example, someone seeking to climb the corporate ladder may observe the behavior of their managers and the vice presidents of their company and try to mimic their behavior (Debell, 2021).
• Attention in itself, however, is not enough to learn a new behavior. Observers Must also retain or remember the behavior at a later time. In order to increase the chances of retention, the observer can structure the information in a way that is easy to remember.
• This could involve using a mnemonic device or a daily learning habit, such as spaced repetition. In the end, however, the behavior must be easily remembered so that the action can later be performed by the learner with little or no effort (Debell, 2021).

Motor Reproduction

• After retention comes the ability to actually perform a behavior in real life, often, producing a new behavior can require hours of practice in order to obtain the necessary skills to do so.
• Thus, the process of reproduction is one that can potentially take years to craft and perfect (Debell, 2021).
• Finally, all learning requires, to some extent, personal motivation. Thus, in observational learning, an observer must be motivated to produce the desired behavior.
• This motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic to the observer. In the latter case, motivation comes in the form of rewards and punishments.
• For example, the extrinsic motivation of someone seeking to climb the corporate ladder could include the incentive of earning a high salary and more autonomy at work (Debell, 2021).

The Bobo Doll Experiment

Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment is one classic in the field of observational learning. In all, this experiment showed that children could and would mimic violent behaviors simply by observing others.

In these experiments, Bandura (1985) and his researchers showed children a video where a model would act aggressively toward an inflatable doll by hitting, punching, kicking, and verbally assaulting the doll.

The end of the video had three different outcomes. Either the model was punished for their behavior, rewarded for it, or there were no consequences.

After watching this behavior, the researchers gave the children a Bobo doll identical to the one in the video.

The researchers found that children were more likely to mimic violent behaviors when they observed the model receiving a reward or when no consequences occurred.

Alternatively, children who observed the model being punished for their violence showed less violence toward the doll (Debell, 2021).

Observational Learning Examples

There are numerous examples of observational learning in everyday life for people of all ages.

Nonetheless, observational learning is especially prevalent in the socialization of children. For example:

• An infant could learn to chew by watching adults chew food.
• After witnessing an older sibling being punished for taking a cookie without permission, the young child does not take cookies without permission.
• A school child may learn to write cursive letters by observing their teacher write them on the board.
• Children may learn to play hide and seek by seeing other children playing the game and being rewarded in the form of entertainment.
• Children may also learn to say swear words after watching other children say swear words and gain social status.
• A child may learn how to drive a car by making appropriate motions after seeing a parent driving.
• A young boy can swing a baseball bat without being explicitly taught how to do it after attending a baseball game. Similarly, a child could learn how to shoot hoops after a basketball game without instruction.
• A child may be able to put on roller skates and stand on them without explicit instruction.
• A student may learn not to cheat by watching another student be punished for doing so
• A child may avoid stepping on ice after seeing another child fall in front of them.

Positive and Negative Outcomes

Bandura concluded that people and animals alike watch and learn and that this learning can have both prosocial and antisocial effects.

Prosocial or positive models can be used to encourage socially acceptable behavior. For example, parents, by reading to their children, can teach their children to read more.

Meanwhile, parents who want their children to eat healthily can in themselves eat healthily and exercise, as well as spend time engaging in physical fitness activities together.

Observational learning argues that children tend to copy what parents do above what they say (Daffin, 2021).

Observational learning has also been used to explain how antisocial behaviors develop. For example, research suggests that observational learning is a reason why many abused children grow up to become abusers themselves (Murrel, Christoff, & Henning, 2007).

Abused children tend to grow up witnessing their parents deal with anger and frustration through violent and aggressive acts, often learning to behave in that manner themselves.

Some studies have also suggested that violent television shows may also have antisocial effects, though this is a controversial claim (Kirsh, 2011).

Observational Learning and Behavioral Modification

Observational learning can be used to change already learned behaviors, both positive and negative.

Bandura asserted that if all behaviors are learned by observing others, and people can model their behavior on that of those around them, then undesirable behaviors can be altered or relearned in the same way.

Banduras suggested showing people a model in a situation that usually causes them some anxiety.

For example, a psychologist may attempt to help someone overcome their fear of getting blood drawn by showing someone using relaxation techniques during a blood draw to stay calm.

By seeing the model interact nicely with the fear-evoking stimulus, the fear should subside. This method of behavioral modification is widely used in clinical, business, and classroom situations (Daffin, 2021).

In the classroom, a teacher may use modeling to demonstrate how to do a math problem for a student. Through a prompt delay, that teacher may then encourage the students to try the problem for themselves.

If the student can solve the problem, no further action is needed; however, if the student struggles, a teacher may use one of four types of prompts — verbal, gestural, modeling, or physical — to assist the student. Similarly, a trainer may show a trainee how to use a computer program to run a register.

As before, the trainer can use prompt delays and prompts to test the level of learning the employee has gained.

Reinforcers can then be delivered through social support after the trainee has successfully completed the task themself (Daffin, 2021).

Observational Learning vs. Operant and Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning , also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning, is a type of learning in which an initially neutral stimulus — the conditioned stimulus — is paired with a stimulus that elicits a reflex response — the unconditioned stimulus.

This results in a learned, or conditioned, response when the conditioned stimulus is present. Perhaps the most famous example of classical conditioning is that of Pavlov’s dogs.

Pavlov conditioned a number of dogs by pairing food with the tone of a bell. After several repetitions, he was able to trigger his dogs to salivate by ringing the bell, even in the absence of food.

Operant conditioning, meanwhile, is a process of learning that takes place by seeing the consequences of behavior. For example, a trainer may teach a dog to do tricks by giving a dog a reward to, say, sit down (Daffin, 2021).

Observational learning extends the effective range of both classical and operant conditioning.

In contrast to classical and operant conditioning, in which learning can only occur through direct experience, observational learning takes place through watching others and then imitating what they do.

While classical and operant conditioning may rely on trial and error alone as a means of changing behavior, observational conditioning creates room for observing a model whose actions someone can replicate.

This can result in a more controlled and ultimately more efficient learning process for all involved (Daffin, 2021).

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Debell, A. (2021). What is Observational Learning? 

Daffin, L. (2021). Principles of Learning and Behavior. Washington State University.

Kirsh, S. J. (2011). Children, adolescents, and media violence: A critical look at the research. 

LaMort, W. (2019). The Social Cognitive Theory. Boston University.

Murrell, A. R., Christoff, K. A., & Henning, K. R. (2007). Characteristics of domestic violence offenders: Associations with childhood exposure to violence. Journal of Family violence, 22 (7), 523-532.

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How Observational Learning Affects Behavior

• Influential Factors
• Pros and Cons

Observational learning describes the process of learning by watching others, retaining the information, and then later replicating the behaviors that were observed.

There are a number of learning theories, such as classical conditioning and operant conditioning , that emphasize how direct experience, reinforcement, or punishment can lead to learning. However, a great deal of learning happens indirectly.

For example, think about how a child may watch adults waving at one another and then imitates these actions later on. A tremendous amount of learning happens through this process. In psychology , this is referred to as observational learning.

Observational learning is sometimes called shaping, modeling, and vicarious reinforcement. While it can take place at any point in life, it tends to be the most common during childhood.

It also plays an important role in the socialization process. Children learn how to behave and respond to others by observing how their parent(s) and/or caregivers interact with other people.

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

History of Observational Learning

Psychologist Albert Bandura is the researcher most often associated with learning through observation. He and others have demonstrated that we are naturally inclined to engage in observational learning.

Studies suggest that imitation with social understanding tends to begin around 2 years old, but will vary depending on the specific child. In the past, research has claimed that newborns are capable of imitation, but this likely isn't true, as newborns often react to stimuli in a way that may seem like imitation, but isn't.

Basic Principles of Social Learning Theory

If you've ever made faces at a toddler and watched them try to mimic your movements, then you may have witnessed how observational learning can be such an influential force. Bandura's social learning theory stresses the power of observational learning.

Bobo Doll Experiment

Bandura's Bobo doll experiment is one of the most famous examples of observational learning. In the Bobo doll experiment , Bandura demonstrated that young children may imitate the aggressive actions of an adult model. Children observed a film where an adult repeatedly hit a large, inflatable balloon doll and then had the opportunity to play with the same doll later on.

Children were more likely to imitate the adult's violent actions when the adult either received no consequences or when the adult was rewarded. Children who saw the adult being punished for this aggressive behavior were less likely to imitate them.

Observational Learning Examples

The following are instances that demonstrate observational learning has occurred.

• A child watches their parent folding the laundry. They later pick up some clothing and imitate folding the clothes.
• A young couple goes on a date to an Asian restaurant. They watch other diners in the restaurant eating with chopsticks and copy their actions to learn how to use these utensils.
• A child watches a classmate get in trouble for hitting another child. They learn from observing this interaction that they should not hit others.
• A group of children play hide-and-seek. One child joins the group and is not sure what to do. After observing the other children play, they quickly learn the basic rules and join in.

Stages of Observational Learning

There are four stages of observational learning that need to occur for meaningful learning to take place. Keep in mind, this is different than simply copying someone else's behavior. Instead, observational learning may incorporate a social and/or motivational component that influences whether the observer will choose to engage in or avoid a certain behavior.

For an observer to learn, they must be in the right mindset to do so. This means having the energy to learn, remaining focused on what the model is engaging in, and being able to observe the model for enough time to grasp what they are doing.

How the model is perceived can impact the observer's level of attention. Models who are seen being rewarded for their behavior, models who are attractive, and models who are viewed as similar to the observer tend to command more focus from the observer.

If the observer was able to focus on the model's behavior, the next step is being able to remember what was viewed. If the observer is not able to recall the model's behavior, they may need to go back to the first stage again.

Reproduction

If the observer is able to focus and retains the information, the next stage in observational learning is trying to replicate it. It's important to note that every individual will have their own unique capacity when it comes to imitating certain behaviors, meaning that even with perfect focus and recall, some behaviors may not be easily copied.

In order for the observer to engage in this new behavior, they will need some sort of motivation . Even if the observer is able to imitate the model, if they lack the drive to do so, they will likely not follow through with this new learned behavior.

Motivation may increase if the observer watched the model receive a reward for engaging in a certain behavior and the observer believes they will also receive some reward if they imitate said behavior. Motivation may decrease if the observer had knowledge of or witnessed the model being punished for a certain behavior.

Influences on Observational Learning

According to Bandura's research, there are a number of factors that increase the likelihood that a behavior will be imitated. We are more likely to imitate:

• People we perceive as warm and nurturing
• People who receive rewards for their behavior
• People who are in an authoritative position in our lives
• People who are similar to us in age, sex, and interests
• People we admire or who are of a higher social status
• When we have been rewarded for imitating the behavior in the past
• When we lack confidence in our own knowledge or abilities
• When the situation is confusing, ambiguous, or unfamiliar

Pros and Cons of Observational Learning

Observational learning has the potential to teach and reinforce or decrease certain behaviors based on a variety of factors. Particularly prevalent in childhood, observational learning can be a key part of how we learn new skills and learn to avoid consequences.

However, there has also been concern about how this type of learning can lead to negative outcomes and behaviors. Some studies, inspired by Bandura's research, focused on the effects observational learning may have on children and teenagers.

For example, previous research drew a direct connection between playing certain violent video games and an increase in aggression in the short term. However, later research that focused on the short- and long-term impact video games may have on players has shown no direct connections between video game playing and violent behavior.

Similarly, research looking at sexual media exposure and teenagers' sexual behavior found that, in general, there wasn't a connection between watching explicit content and having sex within the following year.

Another study indicated that if teenagers age 14 and 15 of the same sex consumed sexual media together and/or if parents restricted the amount of sexual content watched, the likelihood of having sex was lower. The likelihood of sexual intercourse increased when opposite-sex peers consumed sexual content together.

Research indicates that when it comes to observational learning, individuals don't just imitate what they see and that context matters. This may include who the model is, who the observer is with, and parental involvement.

Uses for Observational Learning

Observational learning can be used in the real world in a number of different ways. Some examples include:

• Learning new behaviors : Observational learning is often used as a real-world tool for teaching people new skills. This can include children watching their parents perform a task or students observing a teacher engage in a demonstration.
• Strengthening skills : Observational learning is also a key way to reinforce and strengthen behaviors. For example, if a study sees another student getting a reward for raising their hand in class, they will be more likely to also raise their hand the next time they want to ask a question.
• Minimizing negative behaviors : Observational learning also plays an important role in reducing undesirable or negative behaviors. For example, if you see a coworker get reprimanded for failing to finish a task on time, it means that you may be more likely to finish your work more quickly.

A Word From Verywell

Observational learning can be a powerful learning tool. When we think about the concept of learning, we often talk about direct instruction or methods that rely on reinforcement and punishment . But, a great deal of learning takes place much more subtly and relies on watching the people around us and modeling their actions. This learning method can be applied in a wide range of settings including job training, education, counseling, and psychotherapy .

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Kühn S, Kugler DT, Schmalen K, Weichenberger M, Witt C, Gallinat J. Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study.  Mol Psychiatry . 2019;24(8):1220-1234. doi:10.1038/s41380-018-0031-7

Gottfried JA, Vaala SE, Bleakley A, Hennessy M, Jordan A. Does the effect of exposure to TV sex on adolescent sexual behavior vary by genre? Communication Research . 2013;40(1):73-95. doi:10.1177/0093650211415399

Parkes A, Wight D, Hunt K, Henderson M, Sargent J. Are sexual media exposure, parental restrictions on media use and co-viewing TV and DVDs with parents and friends associated with teenagers’ early sexual behaviour?   Journal of Adolescence . 2013;36(6):1121-1133. doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2013.08.019

The impact of interactive violence on children . U.S. Senate Hearing 106-1096. March 21, 2000.

Anderson CA, Dill KE. Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life .  J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000;78(4):772-790. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.78.4.772

Collins RL, Elliott MN, Berry SH, et al. Watching sex on television predicts adolescent initiation of sexual behavior . Pediatrics . 2004;114(3):e280-9. dloi:10.1542/peds.2003-1065-L

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

16 Observational Learning Examples

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Definition of Observational Learning

There are 4 key factors involved in observational learning according to Albert Bandura (1977), the father of social learning theory (later merging into the social cognitive theory ).

• Attention: The first key element is attention . Observers cannot learn if they are not actually paying attention.
• Retention: Retention means that the observation must be placed in memory.
• Reproduction: Reproduction refers to the observer’s ability to reproduce the behavior observed.
• Motivation: And finally, without motivation to engage in the behavior, it will not be reproduced.

In addition, the person being observed is also a key factor. Models that are in high-status positions, considered experts, are rewarded for their actions, or provide nurturance to the observer, are more likely to have their actions imitated.

Situated Learning Theory also highly values observational learning. This theory argues that people learn best when ‘situated’ within a group of people who are actively completing the tasks that need to be learned. For example, being an apprenticeship getting on-the-job training is seen to be far more valuable than learning about theory in a classroom.

Examples of Observational Learning

1. the bobo dolls experiment.

Dr. Albert Bandura conducted one of the most influential studies in psychology in the 1960s at Stanford University. 

His intention was to demonstrate that cognitive processes play a fundamental role in learning. At the time, Behaviorism was the predominant theoretical perspective, which completely rejected all inferences to constructs not directly observable.

So, Bandura made two versions of a video. In version #1, an adult behaved aggressively with a Bobo doll by throwing it around the room and striking it with a wooden mallet. In version #2, the adult played gently with the doll by carrying it around to different parts of the room and pushing it gently.

After showing children one of the two versions, they were taken individually to a room that had a Bobo doll.

Their behavior was observed and the results indicated that children that watched version #1 of the video were far more aggressive than those that watched version #2. Not only did Bandura’s Bobo doll study form the basis of his social learning theory, it also helped start the long-lasting debate about the harmful effects of television on children.

Note that this study had features of both experiment and observational research – for the difference, see: experiment vs observation .

2. Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are a perfect example of observational learning. Through an apprenticeship, you can actually watch what the professional is doing rather than simply learning about it in a classroom.

Apprenticeships are therefore very common in practical and hands-on professions like plumbing, carpentry, and cooking.

A similar concept, the internship, occurs in white-collar professions. Internships involve a blend of theoretical learning and apprenticeship scenarios to allow people to learn about the nexus between theory and practice. For example, doctors will often complete their medical degree then do an internship for a few years under more experienced doctors.

3. Learning How to Walk

One of the earliest manifestations of observational learning comes as toddlers learn how to walk. They undoubtedly watch their caregivers stroll across the room countless times a day.

By watching how the legs move forward and backward, accompanied by the slight movements of the upper limbs, they begin to see the basic sequence required to walk.

Of course, standing up is first, followed by maintaining balance and not falling. Those sound easier than they really are. So, children will start by holding on to a table or the edge of the sofa and scoot along.

After some time, a toddler might manage to put together 3 or 4 steps in a row; to the great joy of mom and dad.  

4. Gender Norms

In the last 20 years, there has been increasing recognition that our traditional notions of masculinity and femininity are learned rather than innate.

In other words, boys learn to “act like men” through observing male role models in their lives. Similarly, girls learn to “be girly” by observing other females.

One way that we know that gender stereotypes are learned rather than natural is that different societies have different expressions of gender. In some societies, for example, women are the decision-makers in the household, while in others, men are seen as the head of the household. This has led sociologists and cultural theorists to claim the gender norms are ‘ social constructs ’ which create hierarchies of privilege in society (aka social stratification ).

5. Parallel Play

Parallel play is a stage of play in child development where children observe one another playing. Generally, this stage occurs between ages 2 and 4.

During parallel play, children tend not to play with other children. Instead, they will watch from a distance. You might observe, for example, a child playing with a toy while their sibling or peer keeps an eye on them. Later, that sibling will come up to the toy and play with it in a similar way to the first child. Here, we can see that the second child observed then attempted to mimic the first child.

Observational learning can also occur during cooperative play , a later play stage in Parten’s theory of play-based learning. During cooperative play, children will play together , including each other into their play narratives.

6. Chimpanzee Tool Use

Chimps have been observed in a naturalistic environment using a variety of tools. In nearly all of these observed instances of chimp tool-use, a young chimp can be seen nearby observing. This is how the skill is passed down to younger generations.

For example, some chimps use a twig to collect termites out of a termite hill. The twig is used like a fishing pole to probe the termite hill and then retrieve it covered in termites. Other chimps have been observed using rocks to crack open nuts.

Furthermore, surprisingly, the mother chimp provides very little assistance. “Non-human primates are often thought to learn tool skills by watching others and practicing on their own, with little direct help from mothers or other expert tool users,” says Stephanie Musgrave, first author of the study found here , which includes some amazing videos.

7. Wolf Pack Hunting

Like Chimpanzees, wolves also learn from observation. Wolves are extremely competent hunters. They hunt in packs and take cues from the wolf pack leader.

Young wolves are given roles that are less important in the pack. Their job is to learn, watch, and develop their skills. As they get older and stronger, they move up the hierarchy and take more active roles in the hunt.

In these instances, we can see how hunting in a wolf pack is an example of observational learning. In fact, it’s the perfect example of situated learning : learning by being part of the group. You start out in the periphery, and as you get more competent, you’re given bigger and more important roles.

8. Table Manners and Cutlery

Table manners and learning how to use cutlery are other examples of observational learning.

Young children start by imitating how the spoon is held, how it scoops up food, and then moved to the mouth for consumption. Of course, there are a lot of mistakes along the way and more times than not, more food ends up on the floor than in the mouth.

Over the next few years, the child’s caregivers will demonstrate various table etiquette, such as chewing with one’s mouth closed, keeping the head upright, and not using the plate as a place to mix food and juice.

Obviously, table manners are culturally defined so what a child observes as appropriate behavior in one country might be the exact opposite of “manners” in another.

9. Culturally Defined Gestures

One lesson learned in the age of the internet and cross-cultural communication is that a simple gesture can have a multitude of meanings, completely depending on the culture it is displayed in.

For example, in many Western cultures, a thumbs-up gesture means “okay”. When you show someone that sign it means that you approve and is considered to be encouraging. However, in some Middle Eastern countries, it can be a very insulting taboo . In fact, it can be the equivalent of the middle finger in the West.

This is just one example of an observed behavior that is culturally defined. When travelling abroad, it’s best to do some research beforehand.  

10. Observing Bad Habits on T.V.

People learn a lot valuable skills and habits by watching others. Unfortunately, the same can be said of bad habits. For example, watching movie stars smoke can lead to a lot of people taking up smoking. It looks so cool on the big screen.

Drinking in excess is also a bad habit that can be observed on television. One interesting note here is that you will never see someone actually drinking on a TV commercial in the United States. Although there is no federal law prohibiting it, the industry has imposed this regulation on themselves.

So, observational learning can teach us both constructive and destructive habits.

11. YouTube Tutorial Videos

No matter what it is you want to learn how to do, there is probably a YouTube video tutorial for it.

If you want to learn how to use Photoshop or a specific video-editing program, just type in the appropriate search terms and there you go. The results will show at least a couple dozen options to choose from.

In the video, you can watch someone take you through all the necessary steps. If they go too fast, then just click pause. If what they said seemed a little unclear, then just scroll the video back a little and listen again. It’s super easy and super convenient, and a super example of observational learning.

12. Language Acquisition

Learning to speak a language is a long process. Even if the language is in your native tongue, it still takes years. If you are a second language teacher, then helping your students can take even longer.

One trick of the trade for language teachers is to instruct students to watch the teacher’s lips and mouth as they speak. Correct pronunciation has a lot to do with getting the lips to form a particular shape. Just listening to the instructor can help some, but unless the students form the right shape with their lips, their pronunciation will always be off.

We don’t usually think of learning how to speak a language as an example of observational learning, but it most definitely is.

13. Language on the Playground

The playground is a learning environment all its own. Children learn how to deal with conflicts, develop coordination, and unfortunately, sometimes foul language.

Children have a tendency to imitate others, and sometimes that doesn’t always mean imitating behaviors that are constructive.

Probably most children have heard something on the playground and then went home and repeated it do mom and dad. That can be a big mistake. Hopefully, the parents will understand and not freak out.

That leads to the next example of observational learning: when the parents show their child what is the proper way to handle this kind of situation. Remember, children observe their parents as well. So, if the parents model a certain way to handle this kind of situation, the children will likely imitate later when they have children too.

14. Wearing Seatbelts

The power of observational learning is a double-edged sword. It can lead to people picking up bad habits, or adopting good ones. Wearing a seatbelt is a classic example of how watching a public service announcement condoning a healthy habit has helped save lives.

When seatbelts were first introduced in the early days of the automobile back in the 1880s, they were not greeted warmly by the public, with tragic results.

Eventually, in 1959 Volvo offered the first three-point seatbelt in its cars and shared the patent with other manufacturers. Still, adoption by the public was reluctant.

The tide began to change, however, with the prevalence of dramatic public service announcements that showed what would happen in a car crash if you don’t wear a seatbelt. We call this vicarious punishment .

As a result, in most industrialized countries, seatbelt use is a widely accept social norm .

This is an example of how observational learning has helped save lives around the world.  

15. Cooking Shows

Learning the art of great cooking is a big part trial-and-error. It’s also something that can be learned by watching others. Fortunately, there are tons of cooking shows out there to choose from.

The chefs do a great job of demonstrating how they put together a dish. They will show viewers how to mix certain ingredients, how to slice and dice various items, and what the meal will look like when finished. Sometimes they will even go to the local farmer’s market and show viewers what to look for when selecting the ingredients.

These are all things that can be learned by reading a recipe book, but seeing it first-hand is much more informative.

16. Latent Learning

Latent learning is a form of delayed observational learning. The observed behaviors are only exhibited by the person who learned them at a much later date.

A good example is of a child who might learn new words (often swear words!), but then they do not use them until a week later. The parents turn to the child, shocked, and say “when did you learn that language!?”

But unlike most versions of observational learning (like vicarious learning,  operant conditioning , and  classical conditioning ), there doesn’t seem to be much use of rewards or punishments  in latent learning that is usually assumed to be required for learning to occur.

See More: 17 Examples of Behaviorism

Learning by observation can explain how human beings learn to do so many things. It is probably one of the most fundamental ways that people learn.

Unfortunately, that has both positive and negative manifestations. For example, toddlers learn to walk by observing their parents. Students learn proper pronunciation habits by looking closely at their teacher’s lip formations.

Yet, observing others can also get us in trouble. It can teach us bad habits such as smoking and excessive drinking. It can also be the source of innocent children going home and shocking their parents.

Like most things in life, the good must come with the bad.

Anderson, C. A., & Dill, K. E. (2000). Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78 (4), 772–790. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.78.4.772

Bandura, A. (1977).  Social Learning Theory . Prentice Hall.

Berkowitz, L. (1990). On the formation and regulation of anger and aggression: A cognitive-neoassociationistic analysis. American Psychologist , 45 , 494–503.

Musgrave, S., Lonsdorf, E., Morgan, D., Prestipino, M., Bernstein-Kurtycz, L., Mundry, R., & Sanz, C. (2019). Teaching varies with task complexity in wild chimpanzees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 , 201907476. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1907476116

Stover, C. (2005). Domestic violence research: What have we learned and where do we go from here? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20 , 448-454. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260504267755

• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 25 Defense Mechanisms Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 15 Theory of Planned Behavior Examples
• Dave Cornell (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/dave-cornell-phd/ 18 Adaptive Behavior Examples

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 23 Achieved Status Examples
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Chapter 8. Learning

Observational Learning

Dinesh Ramoo

Approximate reading time: 10 minutes

Learning Objectives

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Define observational learning
• Discuss the steps in the modelling process
• Explain the prosocial and antisocial effects of observational learning

Previous sections of this chapter focused on classical and operant conditioning, which are forms of associative learning. Human beings are not driven by just unconscious associative conditioning or even voluntary operant conditioning. We also learn from our peers and elders. Teaching is perhaps as innate a human (and even mammalian) characteristic as you can find. We are born helpless and our survival depends on learning from other people. Such cultural transmission is what allows human beings to spread throughout the world from the hot Sahara Desert to the icy stretches of Siberia. Like most traditional societies, Indigenous pedagogies rely on experiential learning. This means learning to do things through observation and imitation.

In observational learning , we learn by watching others and then imitating, or modelling, what they do or say. For instance, have you ever gone to YouTube to find a video showing you how to do something? The individuals performing the imitated behaviour are called models. Research suggests that this imitative learning involves a specific type of neuron, called a mirror neuron (Hickock, 2010; Rizzolatti, Fadiga, Fogassi, & Gallese, 2002; Rizzolatti, Fogassi, & Gallese, 2006). Humans and other animals are capable of observational learning. As you will see, the phrase “monkey see, monkey do” really is accurate (Figure LE.16). The same could be said about other animals. For example, in a study of social learning in chimpanzees, researchers gave juice boxes with straws to two groups of captive chimpanzees. The first group dipped the straw into the juice box, and then sucked on the small amount of juice at the end of the straw. The second group sucked through the straw directly, getting much more juice. When the first group, the “dippers,” observed the second group, “the suckers,” what do you think happened? All of the “dippers” in the first group switched to sucking through the straws directly. By simply observing the other chimps and modelling their behaviour, they learned that this was a more efficient method of getting juice (Yamamoto, Humle, and Tanaka, 2013).

Like Tolman, whose experiments with rats suggested a cognitive component to learning, psychologist Albert Bandura’s ideas about learning were different from those of strict behaviourists. Bandura and other researchers proposed a brand of behaviourism called social learning theory, which took cognitive processes into account. According to Bandura, pure behaviourism could not explain why learning can take place in the absence of external reinforcement. He felt that internal mental states must also have a role in learning and that observational learning involves much more than imitation. In imitation, a person simply copies what the model does. Observational learning is much more complex. According to Lefrançois (2012) there are several ways that observational learning can occur:

• You learn a new response. After watching your coworker get chewed out by your boss for coming in late, you start leaving home 10 minutes earlier so that you won’t be late.
• You choose whether or not to imitate the model depending on what you saw happen to the model. Remember Naomi and their parent, Yao? When learning to surf, Naomi might watch how Yao pops up successfully on their surfboard and then attempt to do the same thing. On the other hand, Naomi might learn not to touch a hot stove after watching Yao get burned on a stove.
• You learn a general rule that you can apply to other situations.

Bandura identified three kinds of models: live, verbal, and symbolic. A live model demonstrates a behaviour in person, as when Yao stood up on their surfboard so that Naomi could see how they did it. A verbal instructional model does not perform the behaviour, but instead explains or describes the behaviour, as when a soccer coach tells their young players to kick the ball with the side of the foot, not with the toe. A symbolic model can be fictional characters or real people who demonstrate behaviours in books, movies, television shows, video games, or Internet sources (Figure LE.17).

Steps in the Modelling Process

Of course, we don’t learn a behaviour simply by observing a model. Bandura described specific steps in the process of modelling that must be followed if learning is to be successful: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. First, you must be focused on what the model is doing—you have to pay attention. Next, you must be able to retain, or remember, what you observed; this is retention. Then, you must be able to perform the behaviour that you observed and committed to memory; this is reproduction. Finally, you must have motivation. You need to want to copy the behaviour, and whether or not you are motivated depends on what happened to the model. If you saw that the model was reinforced for their behaviour, you will be more motivated to copy them. This is known as vicarious reinforcement . On the other hand, if you observed the model being punished, you would be less motivated to copy them. This is called vicarious punishment . For example, imagine that four-year-old Lake watched their older sibling Opal playing with their parent’s makeup, and then saw Opal get a time out when their parent came in. After their parent left the room, Lake was tempted to play in the make-up, but did not want to get a time-out from their parent. What do you think Lake did? Once you actually demonstrate the new behaviour, the reinforcement you receive plays a part in whether or not you will repeat the behaviour.

Bandura researched modelling behaviour, particularly children’s modelling of adults’ aggressive and violent behaviours (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961). He conducted an experiment with a five-foot inflatable doll that he called a Bobo doll. In the experiment, children’s aggressive behaviour was influenced by whether the teacher was punished for their behaviour. In one scenario, a teacher acted aggressively with the doll, hitting, throwing, and even punching the doll, while a child watched. There were two types of responses by the children to the teacher’s behaviour. When the teacher was punished for their bad behaviour, the children decreased their tendency to act as the teacher had. When the teacher was praised or ignored (and not punished for her behaviour), the children imitated what the teacher did, and even what the teacher said. They punched, kicked, and yelled at the doll.

Watch this clip about the famous Bobo doll experiment to see a portion of the experiment and an interview with Albert Bandura (more about this experiment can be found in the Psychological Research chapter).

Watch this video: Social Learning Theory: Bandura’s Bobo Beatdown Experiments (5 mins)

“Social Learning Theory: Bandura’s Bobo Beatdown Experiments” video by Sprouts is licensed under the Standard YouTube licence.

What are the implications of this study? Bandura concluded that we watch and learn, and that this learning can have both prosocial and antisocial effects. Prosocial (positive) models can be used to encourage socially acceptable behaviour. Parents in particular should take note of this finding. If you want your children to read, then read to them. Let them see you reading. Keep books in your home. Talk about your favourite books. If you want your children to be healthy, then let them see you eat right and exercise, and spend time engaging in physical fitness activities together. The same holds true for qualities like kindness, courtesy, and honesty. The main idea is that children observe and learn from their parents, even their parents’ morals, so be consistent and toss out the old adage “Do as I say, not as I do,” because children tend to copy what you do instead of what you say. Besides parents, many public figures, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi, are viewed as prosocial models who are able to inspire global social change. Can you think of someone who has been a prosocial model in your life?

The antisocial effects of observational learning are also worth mentioning. Research suggests that this learning may help to explain why children who experienced abuse often grow up to abuse others (Murrell, Christoff, & Henning, 2007). Children who experience abuse, who grow up witnessing their parents deal with anger and frustration through violent and aggressive acts, often learn to behave in that manner themselves. Sadly, it’s a vicious cycle that’s difficult to break.

Image Attributions

Figure LE.16 “spider monkey drinks water” by US Air Force, Senior Airman Kasey Close is in the public domain in the United States.

Figure LE.17 is a modification of the following works: “a group of women sitting on top of yoga mats” by Natalia Blauth is licensed under an Unplash licence ; “woman in white long sleeve shirt holding black smartphone” by zhenzhong liu is licensed under an Unsplash licence .

To calculate this time, we used a reading speed of 150 words per minute and then added extra time to account for images and videos. This is just to give you a rough idea of the length of the chapter section. How long it will take you to engage with this chapter will vary greatly depending on all sorts of things (the complexity of the content, your ability to focus, etc).

Observational Learning Copyright © 2024 by Dinesh Ramoo is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Observational Learning: The Complete Guide

It’s not uncommon for people to conceptualize learning as an action that occurs through the use of books and lectures. This is referred to as the traditional model of learning, in which students are expected to go through rote memorization of specific information. This has long been the model adopted in the United States, though that has changed over the last few decades as more educational reforms have taken place.

One of the changes has been greater attention to observational learning, a type of social learning that does not necessarily require any type of reinforcement.

Observational learning, like its namesake implies, is a type of learning that happens as students observe a model. The learner learns by observing the behaviors of others. This social model could be any one of a number of people, including family members, teachers, or friends.

The social model tends to be a particularly powerful instructor when they occupy a higher status, such as teacher or parent, and this effect is particularly powerful among younger people. As such, children may particularly benefit from having strong social models who model behavior for them.

A Brief History

Observational learning has been thoroughly studied, with researchers originally doing in-depth research into observational learning during the 1960s and 1970s. Albert Bandura noted that children often followed the examples of older social models, displaying aggressive behavior if models were aggressive or acting more passively if the social model was passive. However, this was not the only examination of observational learning.

Researchers also noted that children made moral judgments similar to those that social models made, for instance. Over the course of two decades, researchers concluded that observational learning was linked to learning in a variety of ways and that key in all these cases was the role of modeling.

The Social Model

At the core of observational learning is the importance of the social model. Observational learning is so powerful that researchers realized that sometimes incidental behaviors that they demonstrated were picked up by learners and used in sometimes very different contexts.

As such, learners may sometimes observe behavior and learn from it without the social model even intending to model behavior for anyone else. Then, learners can transfer what they’ve learned to a completely different environment. This has significant implications for anyone who occupies the role of a social model, since their behavior may significantly influence the behavior of a learner even when they have no intention to do so.

However, learners don’t simply copy a behavior and repeat it. The learners also pay attention to the consequence of a behavior. In research conducted among children, researchers noted that children observed what happened as a consequence of a social model’s behavior. If a behavior was rewarded, children were more likely to replicate the behavior. In contrast, children tried to avoid a behavior if it was punished. As such, learning through observation could either be direct or indirect.

A social model may try to demonstrate a skill to a learner and show its successful outcome, which would encourage the learner to attempt the same behavior. At other times, a social model’s actions may be rewarded. Children, observing this, will attempt the same behavior once again even if the model was not purposely attempting to demonstrate the behavior. Or, children may avoid that behavior if the model was punished. With that said, children were generally less likely to change their action based on punishments.

The implication of this was that children instead responded more strongly to rewards. For anyone in a social model role, this meant that to most strongly encourage changes in a child, rewards should be the focus of the model, rather than punishment.

Formulating Learning and Performance

For educators, observational learning has two be considered in two distinct ways: learning and performance. Learning refers to the cognitive model that a person forms, while performance refers to the actual ability to repeat the task. When testing whether modeling is working among students, instructors should assess their students first by asking them to verbally describe the task.

The greater the ability for a student to describe the steps, the greater amount of learning that has occurred. Afterward, students should be actually asked to repeat the task themselves, which indicates their performance level. Although there are correlations between the ability to describe a task and repeat it, those correlations are not always perfect. There may at times be a gap between how well a student has learned a task versus how well they can perform the task.

Returning to the value of rewards versus punishments, researchers found that there was a gap between how well participants were able to repeat a task based on rewards versus punishments. In observations of children, researchers found that those who were rewarded and punished for learning a task could both describe how to do the task at about equal levels. In other words, both those who were rewarded and punished experienced a similar level of learning. However, in actual practice, there was superior performance among the reward group.

These findings implied once again that rewarding learners was a superior approach to instructing students, though in this case specifically when it came to performance of the task. As such, teachers may find that students can similarly describe how to perform a task but may not be able to equally perform that task in practice. This may be related to the rewards and punishments system that the teacher has used.

The Stages of Observational Learning

Researchers indicated that there were four stages to observational learning. Early in the development of this learning model, Albert Bandura formulated these stages to create a theoretical system by which students progressed from initial observation to actual practice.

At the earliest stage of learning, students first needed to pay attention. Teachers should take note the importance of attention to learning. This shouldn’t be a surprising statement, but the level of attention that a learner pays to an instructor impacts how much they learn. This is no different in observational learners.

The learner must observe what’s happening and pay attention to the steps in a task. How much attention the learner pays, though, can depend on a few different factors. Researchers found that the degree to which an observer identified with the model impacted the degree of learning that occurred. This suggested that teachers should try to cultivate good relationships with their students that would help encourage increased observations during the learning process.

The second stage of the observational learning model included retention. This stage should be simple enough for students to understand. What is taught must be retained, and observers need to put what they’ve observed into their memory.

How much an observer retains goes back to the fact that they needed to have paid attention, which itself relied on how much they identified with the model. However, other factors also impact retention.

There are sometimes inherent characteristics that impacted how much a student retained. At other times, different learners had different retention strategies that helped them to more effectively retain what they had learned.

Retention would rarely be equal between learners, given the diversity of the population, which may require models to model a behavior more than once for some learners. Remembering that there is a difference between learning versus performance , at this stage, the degree of learning could be tested for by asking students to repeat the steps of the task.

The third stage of the observational learning process was the initiation stage. At this stage, learners now have to demonstrate performance by repeating the task themselves. The observer must demonstrate they are capable of repeating what they’ve been taught. It’s expected at this stage that an observer possesses all the necessary skills to repeat the task, but this may not be the case. Some tasks may be complex enough to make reproduction difficult. This is particularly the case when it comes to physical skills.

Learners may observe a model, but it may require practice to repeat the task physically even if they can verbally describe perfectly what’s happening. Physical repetition is particularly difficult with complex physical tasks that occur in areas such as sports or music.

For many teachers, this may not be a struggle they have to concern themselves with. However, there may be nuances to repeating certain tasks, such as handling equipment in a lab experiment, that impact a student’s repetition of what they’ve observed. This is where repetition and practice helps to improve the student’s performance.

The final stage of observational learning is less of a stage and more of a description of one characteristic that is necessary for learning to occur. Namely, students need to be motivated to learn.

Students that are highly motivated are more likely to want to recreate a behavior they observe. This impacts the degree of attention they pay, impacts their retention, and impacts their drive to physically reproduce the behavior. As such, teachers cannot dismiss the importance of this quality among students. To the extent that they are able to, teachers should do their best to encourage the motivation of their students in order to improve both learning and performance of a task.

Examples of Observational Learning

It’s easy to see just how many situations in which observational learning may apply. Children pick up all sorts of behaviors from their parents, for example. They may observe their parents doing laundry, such as folding clothing, and demonstrate the ability to do the same.

Children on a playground may observe other children being punished for playing roughly and avoid that behavior to avoid being punished themselves. Yet once more, children may observe other children playing a game and learn the rules for themselves by simply observing.

This also holds implications for teaching in the classroom. Take a science experiment, for example. It may be possible to describe how a science experiment might take place, but it may be far more difficult to repeat the experiment itself. In this case, it would be important for a science instructor to take their students through the experiment for themselves, step by step. However, the science instructor doesn’t have to limit observational learning to only an observation of the instructor.

Instead, instructors can also support students in the classroom by pairing more advanced learners with those who are struggling with the experiment. Peers can help to model the experiment to slower learners, taking them through the experiment step by step.

The concept of peer learning itself takes on special importance when considering that the degree to which a learner observes and retains information has a lot to do with the degree to which they identify with the instructor.

Students may find it hard to identify with their teacher, but they may find it far easier to identify with their peers. For tasks that can be observed and modeled, it may be beneficial to pair students with other students.

By doing so, teachers may increase the likeliness that learners will pay attention during the task and retain information. Students may also feel more motivated when observing their peers. For better or worse, social influence and pressure plays a role in the behavior of almost everyone.

The influence of social peers may drive students to want to perform well on a task, motivating them to pay more attention while the behavior is being modeled. This would in turn lend itself to greater observation, retention, and a stronger desire to repeat the task for themselves.

Latent Learning and Observational Learning

One last note about observational learning is that it relates to another important learning theory, the concept of latent learning . In latent learning, people learn skills and the ability to do things without being expressly instructed.

They don’t manifest those skills until they’re prompted to do so. For instance, a learner may observe someone regularly completing a task. Returning to the example of a child that watches their parents fold clothes, the child may then learn to fold clothes themselves yet never demonstrate the skill until prompted.

The important takeaway here is that learning occurs all the time, even when there is no intention to teach a person. By modeling behavior for children, skill can be encouraged indirectly. Parents who read at home will be observed by their children, and those children will then be motivated to read for themselves. That is an effect of observational learning, since it teaches children the habit of reading.

However, if there are educational resources in the environment that they can read, then children will end up reading about different educational concepts and skills. They may then demonstrate those skills in the classroom, even if they were never expressly taught to them by anyone. As such, observational learning and latent learning may work together to encourage skills in students that manifest themselves once the student is in the classroom.

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• National Centre for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Understanding Observational Learning: An Interbehavioral Approach
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observational learning , method of learning that consists of observing and modeling another individual’s behavior, attitudes, or emotional expressions. Although it is commonly believed that the observer will copy the model, American psychologist Albert Bandura stressed that individuals may simply learn from the behavior rather than imitate it. Observational learning is a major component of Bandura’s social learning theory. He also emphasized that four conditions were necessary in any form of observing and modeling behavior: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.

Conditions for observational learning

If an organism is going to learn anything from a model, he or she must be paying attention to it and the behavior it exhibits. Many conditions can affect the observer’s attention. For instance, if the observer is sleepy, ill, or distracted, he or she will be less likely to learn the modeled behavior and imitate it at a later date. In addition, the characteristics of the model have an influence on the observer’s attention. Bandura and others have shown that humans pay more attention to models that are attractive, similar to them, or prestigious and are rewarded for their behaviors. This explains the appeal that athletes have on the behavior of young children and that successful adults have on college students. Unfortunately, this aspect of modeling can also be used in detrimental ways. For example, if young children witness gang members gaining status or money, they may imitate those behaviors in an effort to gain similar rewards.

The second requirement of observational learning is being able to remember the behavior that was witnessed. If the human or animal does not remember the behavior, there is a less than probable chance that they will imitate it.

This requisite of behavior concerns the physical and mental ability of the individual to copy the behavior he or she observed. For instance, a young child may observe a college basketball player dunk a ball. Later, when the child has a basketball, he or she may attempt to dunk a ball just like the college player. However, the young child is not nearly as physically developed as the older college player and, no matter how many times he or she tries, will not be able to reach the basket to dunk the ball. An older child or an adult might be able to dunk the ball but likely only after quite a bit of practice. Similarly, a young colt observes another horse in the herd jump over the creek while running in the pasture. After observing the model’s jumping behavior, the colt attempts to do the same only to land in the middle of the creek. He simply was not big enough or did not have long enough legs to clear the water. He could, however, after physical growth and some practice, eventually be able to replicate the other horse’s jump.

Perhaps the most important aspect of observational learning involves motivation. If the human or animal does not have a reason for imitating the behavior, then no amount of attention, retention , or reproduction will overcome the lack of motivation. Bandura identified several motivating factors for imitation . These include knowing that the model was previously reinforced for the behavior, being offered an incentive to perform, or observing the model receiving reinforcement for the behavior. These factors can also be negative motivations. For instance, if the observer knew that the model was punished for the behavior, was threatened for exhibiting the behavior, or observed the model being punished for the behavior, then the probability of mimicking the behavior is less.

Modeling has been used successfully in many therapeutic conditions. Many therapists have used forms of modeling to assist their patients to overcome phobias . For example, adults with claustrophobia may observe a model in a video as they move closer and closer to an enclosed area before entering it. Once the model reaches the enclosed area, for instance a closet, he or she will open the door, enter it, and then close the door. The observer will be taught relaxation techniques and be told to practice them anytime he or she becomes anxious while watching the film. The end result is to continue observing the model until the person can enter the closet himself or herself.

Bandura’s findings in the Bobo doll experiments have greatly influenced children’s television programming . Bandura filmed his students physically attacking the Bobo doll, an inflatable doll with a rounded bottom that pops back up when knocked down. A student was placed in the room with the Bobo doll. The student punched the doll, yelled “sockeroo” at it, kicked it, hit it with hammers, and sat on it. Bandura then showed this film to young children. Their behavior was taped when in the room with the doll. The children imitated the behaviors of the student and at times even became more aggressive toward the doll than what they had observed. Another group of young children observed a student being nice to the doll. Ironically, this group of children did not imitate the positive interaction of the model. Bandura conducted a large number of varied scenarios of this study and found similar events even when the doll was a live clown. These findings have prompted many parents to monitor the television shows their children watch and the friends or peers with which they associate. Unfortunately, the parental saying “Do as I say, not as I do” does not hold true for children. Children are more likely to imitate the behaviors versus the instructions of their parents.

One of the most famous instances of observational learning in animals involves the blue tit , a small European bird. During the 1920s and through the 1940s, many people reported that the cream from the top of the milk being delivered to their homes was being stolen. The cream-stealing incidents spread all over Great Britain. After much speculation about the missing cream, it was discovered that the blue tit was the culprit. Specifically, one bird had learned to peck through the foil top of the milk container and suck the cream out of the bottle. It did not take long before other blue tit birds imitated the behavior and spread it through the country.

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Neural Mechanisms of Observational Learning: A Neural Working Model

1 Computational, Cognitive and Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom

Sònia Pineda Hernández

2 Euncet Business School, Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain

3 Department of Anatomy, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Québec City, QC, Canada

Humans and some animal species are able to learn stimulus-response (S-R) associations by observing others' behavior. It saves energy and time and avoids the danger of trying the wrong actions. Observational learning (OL) depends on the capability of mapping the actions of others into our own behaviors, processing outcomes, and combining this knowledge to serve our goals. Observational learning plays a central role in the learning of social skills, cultural knowledge, and tool use. Thus, it is one of the fundamental processes in which infants learn about and from adults (Byrne and Russon, 1998 ). In this paper, we review current methodological approaches employed in observational learning research. We highlight the important role of the prefrontal cortex and cognitive flexibility to support this learning process, develop a new neural working model of observational learning, illustrate how imitation relates to observational learning, and provide directions for future research.

Introduction

Observational learning refers to learning by watching others' actions and their associated outcomes in certain circumstances. Unlike imitation, observational learning does not simply mean to replicate an action that others have performed. Rather, it requires the learner to transform the observed scenarios into actions as close as possible to that of the actor's (Torriero et al., 2007 ). One of the most illustrative examples would be how Adelie penguins observe and learn from others' actions when congregating at the water's edge to enter the sea and feed on krill in Antarctica. However, the leopard seal—the main predator of the penguins—often hides beneath the waves, making it risky to be the first penguin to jump into the water. As the waiting game continues, one of the hungriest animals will jump into the water while others are watching. They will only follow if no seal appears (Burke et al., 2010 ). This ability to follow, to interpret and to learn from observed actions and outcomes is crucial for many species when the stakes are high. For example, predators can avoid eating poisonous prey without trying it by watching their peers consuming it (Burke et al., 2010 ). Many animal species, as well as human infants are born helpless and rely on observational learning (Meltzoff and Marshall, 2018 ). Research has found that newborns as young as 42 min are able to match gestures (including tongue protrusion and mouth opening) that has been shown to them (Meltzoff and Moore, 1997 ). Moreover, newborns can also map observed behaviors to their own, which suggests shared representation for the acts of self and others (Meltzoff and Moore, 1997 ; Meltzoff, 2007 ; Meltzoff and Marshall, 2018 ). Young infants can easily imitate, but only older infants demonstrate observational learning. In one study, a group of 14-month-old infants saw a novel act (e.g., the adult actor used his head to turn on a light panel). When encountering the same panel after a 1-week delay, 67% of infants used their head to turn on the light panel. This is observational learning because the infant reacts when seeing the stimulus by retrieving what they encoded in memory; rather than simply replicating an action (Meltzoff, 1988 ). Moreover, several studies from other groups have provided converging evidence for this, which found that infants not only copy goals and outcomes of the demonstration, but they also imitate the model used to attain that goal (e.g., Tennie et al., 2006 ; Williamson et al., 2008 ).

By definition, observational learning involves two main steps: (1) Infer other's intentions according to the observation, (2) process others' action outcomes (i.e., successes and errors) and combine these sources of information to learn the stimulus-response-outcome (S-R-O) associations that can be later used to obtain desirable outcomes. Unlike instruction-based learning (IBL; Hampshire et al., 2016 ), instruction is not required in observational learning, which would be advantageous for species which do not have language or aphasia patients who have difficulties comprehending linguistic instructions. Compared to widely investigated reinforcement learning (RL), observational learning enables one to acquire knowledge without taking the risks or incurring costs during discovering (Monfardini et al., 2008 ). This paper is structured in five main sections. First, we survey the current approaches in observational learning research. Next, we discuss the neural mechanisms underlying observational learning with a focus on the frontal-temporal system while comparing it to other forms of learning (e.g., IBL and RL). After that, we develop a neural working model of observational learning. We then connect observational learning with imitation and suggest that they should be regarded as two distinct cognitive processes. Finally, we discuss the role of ventral striatum in social learning and outline some possible future research directions.

Schemes in Observational Learning Research

There are three main kinds of task designs in current observational learning research ( Figure 1 ). The first one was employed by Burke et al. ( 2010 ), who used the observational action prediction error (defined as the difference between actual choice and predicted choice of the other agent) and observational outcome prediction error (defined as the difference between the actual outcome and predicted outcome of the other agent's action, which were based on the widely used concept prediction error in reinforcement learning literature). More specifically, in a given trial of their experiment, participants had to choose between one of the two abstract fractal stimuli to gain a stochastic reward and to avoid stochastic punishment while being scanned by fMRI. One stimulus consistently delivered a good outcome (reward or absence of punishment 80% of the time) and bad outcome (punishment or absence of reward 20% of the time; Figure 1A ). They also included a trial-and-error baseline individual learning condition and a learning from observing actions only condition which could be used to characterize the observational action prediction error. The second task design was introduced by Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ), in which participants watch a short video demonstrating an actor making motor responses according to the stimulus presentation with post-response feedback ( Figure 1B ). Importantly, in the fMRI scanning section, instead of participants themselves making their response when seeing the stimuli, participants watched the actor in the short video making a response according to the stimulus that participants saw before the video and made a binary choice regarding whether the actor made a correct response. This kind of design enables the detection of brain activity when participants retrieve rules (when novel stimuli are being displayed). However, logically, the part where participants had to watch an actor performing the task and make judgement about it is very unlikely to occur in a realistic situation because we seldomly learn from judging another, while judging others' responses to stimuli might involve additional cognitive processes. In a later study, Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) changed the aforementioned design and introduced the learning by observation (LeO) task. In the LeO task, participants were asked to learn S-R associations between stimulus presented on the screen and joystick movements by watching a video which shows an expert demonstrating the correct visuomotor association. They were then asked to make responses accordingly in the fMRI scanner after each stimulus was presented ( Figure 1C ).

Experimental designs. (A) The upper panel, learning session. Participants learned the associations between abstract visual stimuli and corresponding joystick movements. In the experiment, the stimulus presented on the screen for 1.5 s, the participants were asked to move the joystick left, right, up, or down. Once participants made a response, a visual feedback was given to indicate if the response was correct (happy green face; example 1) or wrong (sad red face; example 2). The participants learned one set of S-R associations by trial-and-error exploration and the other by observing experts performing the task. The lower panel, scanning session. Trials in the three different conditions were pseudo-randomly intermixed. Across all conditions, the visual stimuli were presented for 1.5 s and followed by a blank screen of variable durations and a short video of an actor's hand performing a joystick movement. After the movie, participants were asked to judge whether the actor in the video made a correct response or not by pressing a right or left mouse corresponding to “yes” or “no” shown on the left or the right side of the screen, respectively. There was a 50% of change that the actor's response was correct with 50% of change that the actor's response was wrong. Adapted from Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) with permission. (B) Prediction error approach paradigm. After a variable ITI, participants first were asked to observe the confederate players being presented with two abstract fractal stimuli to choose from. Then participants were presented with the same stimuli, and the trial proceeded with the same manner. Participants were asked to make a response when the fixation cross was circled by using the index finger for left stimulus and middle finger for right stimulus on the response pad. Adapted from Burke et al. ( 2010 ) under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). (C) Each trial started with a video showing a hand on a joystick performing one of the four possible movements in response to the presentation of a colored stimulus on the monitor screen. The total video length was 2 s and the colored stimulus lasted 1.5 s. The outcome image was presented after a variable delay. Participants were instructed to learn the correct stimulus-response-outcome association by looking at the video and outcomes. Adapted from Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

Neural Mechanisms of Observational Learning

Cognitive flexibility and the lateral prefrontal cortex.

In uncertain and changing environments, flexible control of actions has evolutionary and developmental benefits as it enables goal-directed and adaptive behavior. Flexible control of actions require an understanding of the outcome (reward or punishment) associated with the given action (Burke et al., 2010 ), and it is well-established that cognitive flexibility plays an important role in both reinforcement learning and instruction-based learning. In reinforcement learning where trial-and-error exploration is commonly used, individuals can use the outcomes associated with previous actions to determine future actions (Thorndike, 1970 ; Mackintosh, 1983 ; Balleine and Dickinson, 1998 ; Skinner, 2019 ). In instruction-based learning, individuals can utilize learned rules and representations to choose the correct actions (Cole et al., 2013a ). Theoretically speaking, cognitive flexibility is also required in observational learning as individuals learn the associations between other agents' actions and their associated outcomes and use this information to choose the correct responses rapidly.

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) is crucial when a high demand for cognitive flexibility is required to perform the task, e.g., during learning novel tasks (Cole et al., 2013a ), decision making (McGuire and Botvinick, 2010 ), and task-switching (Braver et al., 2003 ; Ruge et al., 2013 ). Previous research has confirmed the essential role of LPFC in instruction-based learning in terms of transferring novel rules into execution rapidly (Cole et al., 2013a , 2016 ; Hampshire et al., 2016 ), where a high degree of cognitive flexibility was required. Studies on observational learning have also shown the involvements of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC; Monfardini et al., 2008 , 2013 ; Burke et al., 2010 ) once the rule was learned, which is consistent with the notion that LPFC is engaged during acquisition of novel rules.

Note that the only difference between IBL and observational learning is that observational learning of novel rules requires subjects to learn by observing others' action and/or outcomes associated with that action whereas during IBL, subjects learn from explicitly linguistic or symbolistic instructions. According to previous research on IBL (Cole et al., 2013a ), abstract IBL activates anterior LPFC while concrete IBL activates middle LPFC. In abstract IBL, participants were asked to judge if two words have the same property. For example, the stimulus might be “apple” and “grape,” and the participants were required to press down the left index finger if these two kinds of fruits were sweet and press down the right index finger if any of these two kinds of fruits was not sweet. In contrast, similar to the S-R associations in observational learning research, the concrete IBL tasks asked participants to press a button when seeing a novel stimulus. For instance, the instruction might ask the participants to press down the left index finger when seeing the shape “square” and to press down the right index finger when seeing the shape “circle.” Research has identified that the concrete IBL tasks activated more posterior areas of the LPFC and activation of LPFC shifted posteriorly with practice in both abstract and concrete IBL. One interpretation is that once the novel task becomes routine after a certain amount of practice, the task representation also becomes more concrete. Thus, we hypothesize that the more posterior parts of the LPFC will be activated during observational learning because watching someone performing the task would be more concrete than transferring linguistic rules into programmatic execution. Practice of novel tasks in observational learning will also lead to an anterior-posterior shift in LPFC. However, further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

Common Networks in Acquiring Rules

Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) found that it does not matter whether S-R associations are learned via observation or trial-and-error, three documented cerebral systems were involved in the acquisition stage: the dorsal frontoparietal, the fronto-striatal, and the cerebellar networks ( Figure 2 ). The most straightforward interpretation is that during both types of learning, the brain builds a task model linking rule and response and it does not matter whether rules are acquired through observation or through trial-and-error. The dorsal frontoparietal system consists of the superior and inferior parietal lobes and the premotor dorsal cortex, which plays a central role in sensorimotor transformation, goal-directed attentional control to stimulus and response, and instrumental learning. Previous neuroimaging research has also confirmed its contribution to trial-and-error learning (Eliassen et al., 2003 ; Law et al., 2005 ) specifically during the processing of outcomes (Brovelli et al., 2008 ). This evidence suggested that processing of other's success and error during observational learning might involve the same brain systems as in individual learning, sensorimotor transformation, and goal-directed attentional control (Monfardini et al., 2013 ).

Common brain regions that were more active during the acquisition phase of both types of learning. Adopted from Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).

The frontostriatal networks comprise the left dorsal striatum, the anterior ventro-lateral, dorso-lateral prefrontal cortices and the supplementary motor area (SMA), which are considered to be of crucial importance for goal-directed operations during individual instrumental learning (Yin and Knowlton, 2006 ; Balleine et al., 2007 ; Graybiel, 2008 ; Yin et al., 2008 ; Packard, 2009 ; White, 2009 ; Ashby et al., 2010 ; Balleine and O'doherty, 2010 ). Previous research has observed activities in the caudate nucleus and the ventrolateral and dorsolateral frontal cortex during individual learning, and also in the premotor and supplementary motor areas (Frith and Frith, 1999 , 2012 ; Toni and Passingham, 1999 ; Toni et al., 2001 ; Tricomi et al., 2004 ; Boettiger and D'Esposito, 2005 ; Delgado et al., 2005 ; Galvan et al., 2005 ; Seger and Cincotta, 2005 ; Grol et al., 2006 ; Haruno and Kawato, 2006 ; Brovelli et al., 2008 ). Specifically, the anterior caudate nucleus might integrate information about performance and cognitive control demand during individual instrumental learning (Brovelli et al., 2011 ), whereas the ventral lateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is involved in the retrieval of visuomotor associations learned either by trial-and-error or by observation of others' actions (Monfardini et al., 2008 ). The fronto-striatal networks are also critical for adaptively implementing a wide variety of tasks where a high level of cognitive flexibility is required and these networks' ability to adapt to various contexts is made possible by the “flexible hubs,” which include neural systems that rapidly update their patterns of global functional connectivity depending on the task demands (Cole et al., 2013b ).

The cerebellar network located bilaterally in the cerebellum was recruited in outcome processing at early stages of learning. Clinical evidence has shown that cerebellar lesions can give rise to impairments in procedural learning and cognitive planning (Grafman et al., 1992 ; Appollonio et al., 1993 ; Pascual-Leone et al., 1993 ; Gomez-Beldarrain et al., 1998 ). Moreover, a study that employed repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS; Torriero et al., 2007 ) has demonstrated the role of cerebellar regions in acquiring new motor patterns through both observation and trial-and-error. Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) concluded that this network is involved in both observational learning and trial-and-error learning, even if there was no need to acquire new motor patterns.

Common Networks in Retrieval of Associations

S-R associations can be learned through instruction, observation, and trial-and-error, thus common networks involved in retrieval of associations are proposed. Results from the conjunction analysis in Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) has demonstrated that when newly acquired rules were being retrieved, with the brain network consisting of the right ventrolateral and anterior frontal cortices, pre-SMA, as well as the parietal cortex, was highly involved ( Figure 3 ; Bunge et al., 2003 ; Bunge, 2004 ; Donohue et al., 2005 ; Crone et al., 2006 ). This finding was consistent with the conclusions of Donohue et al. ( 2005 ) that assessed the contribution of the inferior frontal junction to the retrieval of motor responses associated with symbolic cues. It also suggested that the posterior medial temporal gyrus plays a crucial role in the representation of arbitrary associations (Donohue et al., 2005 ). The most straightforward interpretation of these findings is that during both observational learning and trial-and-error learning, the brain builds a task model which links rules with responses, thus involving brain networks that are commonly activated during retrieval of associations.

Common brain regions that were more active while participants viewing stimuli they had recently learned by either trial-and-error exploration or observation than control stimuli at the retrieval stage. Adopted from Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) with permission.

Specific Networks for the Observational Learning

When retrieving rules learned through observation, the observation of abstract stimuli and their associations with corresponding responses activated a set of brain regions including the right pars triangularis (BA 45), the right inferior parietal lobule, and the posterior visual areas. Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) compared the changes in BOLD signals in the right pars triangularis during retrieval with that during movie watching and identified similar patterns of activation when subjects retrieved motor responses associated with a visual arbitrary stimulus. This finding is consistent with the notion that the pars triangularis is engaged in observation of actions, but not in imitation or execution of actions (Molnar-Szakacs et al., 2005 ). Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) proposed that the right pars triangularis should not be considered as part of the mirror system, rather, this brain region is related to the suppression of actions execution during both observation and motor imagery (Deiber et al., 1998 ; Molnar-Szakacs et al., 2006 ). Regarding activations in the posterior visual areas, Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ) suggested that it may be a result of top-down modulations. In line with this hypothesis, neuroimaging studies have proposed that during the execution of a given task, a frontal-parietal network exerts control over the activities in the visual cortex through top-down signals that modulate activities of the visual cortex. In Monfardini et al. ( 2008 ), attention to the hand was an instinct characteristic of observational learning. In the meantime, a retrieval process may reactivate the observed movements during the learning process and the top-down modulations may influence distinct visual areas, depending on whether the rules were learned through observation or trial-and-error processes (Super et al., 2001 ; Vidyasagar and Pigarev, 2007 ).

During implementation, many brain areas were significantly more active during the presentation of incorrect outcomes in observational compared to individual learning. In particular, the activated clusters of bilateral brain regions include the middle cingulate cortex (MCC), the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC), the anterior insula, and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS). Previous research has demonstrated that the pMFC and the anterior insula are both part of the error-monitor network (Radke et al., 2011 ). The pMFC is located within the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, which has been found to play a central role in individual trial-and-error learning processes (Holroyd and Coles, 2002 ; Mars et al., 2005 ). A study by Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) has also suggested that the pMFC is highly involved in both error-monitoring and subsequent behavioral adjustments. More specifically, it has been suggested that when adaptations are required according to the outcomes associated with an action, the performance-monitoring system in the pMFC implements as a signal of the need for adjustments (Ullsperger and Von Cramon, 2003 ). Recent results from electrophysiological experiments on monkeys suggested that neurons in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex selectively respond to others' incorrect actions, and their patterns of activity are associated with the subsequent behavior adjustments (Yoshida et al., 2012 ). The anterior insular cortex is involved in both performance monitoring processes (Radke et al., 2011 ) and the autonomic responses to error in non-social contexts (Ullsperger and Von Cramon, 2003 ), and its level of activity increases with error awareness (Klein et al., 2007 ; Ullsperger et al., 2010 ). This network is also activated during error-detection and in non-learning contexts (Ridderinkhof et al., 2004 ; de Bruijn et al., 2009 ; Radke et al., 2011 ), however, there is no evidence suggesting its activities could differentiate others' from individual learning. Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) provided novel insights into the role of the pMFC-anterior insular network in the processing of others' mistakes during observational learning. To date, a number of studies has established an association between the level of error-related activities and the subsequent learning performances (Klein et al., 2007 ; Hester et al., 2008 ; van der Helden et al., 2010 ). Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) speculated that the neurons in the pMFC-anterior insular network may act as the neural correlates of a cognitive bias that have been referred to as the predisposition of humans to process errors of others differently from their own errors by studies in neuroeconomics and social psychology. Specifically, the “actor-observer” cognitive bias represents the tendency to attribute others' failures to their personal mistakes but one's own failure is attributed to the situation (Jones and Nisbett, 1987 ). For a deeper understanding of the relative effectiveness of individual and observational learning from others' and individual errors, further neuroimaging research is needed (Monfardini et al., 2013 ).

Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) also demonstrated that the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) is specifically correlated with the processing of others' errors during observational learning. As previous studies on non-human primates showed that the STS is anatomically well-suited to integrating information sourced from both the ventral and dorsal visual pathways, in a number of studies, social cues in the STS region which is sensitive to stimuli that signal the actions of another individual were analyzed (Pandya and Yeterian, 1985 ; Boussaoud et al., 1990 ; Baizer et al., 1991 ). Particular emphasis has been given to the pSTS, which was regarded as the substrate of goal-directed behavior (Saxe et al., 2004 ) and social perception (Allison et al., 2000 ). Overall, previous research supports the hypothesis that perception of agency activates the pSTS (Tankersley et al., 2007 ), and the activity in pSTS might be part of a larger network mapping of observed actions to motor programs (Rilling et al., 2004 ; Keysers and Gazzola, 2006 ). Moreover, the pSTS is considered to be actively involved in the attribution of mental states to other organisms (Frith and Frith, 1999 , 2003 ; Saxe and Kanwisher, 2003 ; Samson et al., 2004 ) and the extraction of contextual and intentional cues from goal-directed behavior (Toni et al., 2001 ). More importantly, activities of the pSTS have been observed in humans during imitation of actions (Iacoboni, 2005 ). Results from Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) supported the hypothesis of the role of pSTS in the processing of social information, which is a necessary component of the learning stage of observational learning. Additionally, the fact that the pSTS was more activated by the errors made by others than one's own errors may imply more intensive mentalizing (e.g., what does the agent think now that they know that one certain action does not lead to positive outcomes?) or the reactivation of the visual representations of an observed action to decrease its association with the corresponding stimulus (Monfardini et al., 2013 ).

Neural Working Model of Observational Learning

To shed light on how observational learning works and its neural basis, we created a neural working model of observational learning ( Figure 4 ). Our neural work model of observational learning includes three phases: observation, acquisition, response. The first phase is observation, defined as observation of abstract stimuli and their association to specific bodily movements, which activate a network consisting of a number of brain regions: the dorsal premotor cortex (Cisek and Kalaska, 2004 ), the right pars triangularis (BA 45), the right inferior parietal lobule, and the posterior visual areas (Monfardini et al., 2008 ). The ability to observe and learn with it is a powerful capacity of humans (Mattar and Gribble, 2005 ; Torriero et al., 2007 ), and previous studies have shown that when a symbolic representation of task performance is observed, neurons in the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) respond in a similar manner than when the task is physically performed (Cisek and Kalaska, 2004 ).

Neural working model of observational learning. It can be divided into three phases: observation, acquisition, and response.

The second phase is acquisition of rules, which recruits three individual systems: the dorsal frontoparietal, the fronto-striatal, and the cerebellar networks. The dorsal frontoparietal network consists of the bilateral superior and inferior parietal lobes and the premotor dorsal cortices, which are thought to involve in sensorimotor transformation, in the regulation of goal-directed attention to both stimulus and response, and in instrumental learning (Monfardini et al., 2013 ). The fronto-striatal network consists of the left dorsal striatum, the anterior ventro-lateral, and dorso-lateral prefrontal cortices, ventral lateral prefrontal cortex, and the SMA. During instrumental learning, this network is thought to facilitate goal-directed processes (Yin and Knowlton, 2006 ; Balleine et al., 2007 ; Graybiel, 2008 ; Yin et al., 2008 ; Packard, 2009 ; White, 2009 ; Ashby et al., 2010 ; Balleine and O'doherty, 2010 ). In early phases of learning, the cerebellar network, located bilaterally in the cerebellum, is involved in outcome processing and assessment. It is also related to cognitive planning and procedural learning. Moreover, the cerebellar structures play a role in the acquisition of new motor patterns learned through observation (Grafman et al., 1992 ; Appollonio et al., 1993 ; Pascual-Leone et al., 1993 ; Gomez-Beldarrain et al., 1998 ).

The third phase is the response where the learner retrieves learned S-R contingencies and makes a response when seeing the stimulus. After making a response, if the outcome is incorrect, then it activates the error-monitoring network comprised of the middle cingulate cortex, the posterior medial frontal cortex (pMFC), the anterior insula, and the posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS; Radke et al., 2011 ). Usually, action and outcome are accompanied by a shift from feedback-based performance to response-based performance, and action and outcome can be learned well, both actively and by observation (Bellebaum and Colosio, 2014 ).

Observational Learning vs. Imitation

Previous studies on observational learning have focused on the learning of novel motor patterns through imitation and mirror-like mechanisms (Monfardini et al., 2013 ). In imitation tasks used in these studies, participants did not need to search for the correct response to the current stimuli from multiple observations. Instead, they were required to imitate other people's actions regardless of the outcomes. Classical imitation research has suggested that the main circuitry of imitation consists of the superior temporal sulcus and the mirror neuron system, which includes the posterior inferior frontal gyrus, and ventral premotor cortex, and the rostral inferior parietal lobule [see Iacoboni ( 2005 ) for a review]. Several studies have found that the frontoparietal putative mirror neuron system (pMNS), which consists of the ventral and dorsal premotor cortex, the inferior parietal lobule and adjacent somatosensory areas, and the middle temporal gyri, was strongly activated while participants were observing others' actions during the acquisition of motor patterns (Caspers et al., 2010 ). Moreover, the pMNS was also recruited when participants were watching others' actions without the need to imitate, or they simply executed those actions (Monfardini et al., 2013 ).

However, the role of pMNS is ambiguous in observational learning of arbitrary visuomotor associations because the differentiation between actions that would result in positive feedback and actions that lead to negative feedback remain unexplored. In observational learning tasks, no novel motor responses have to be acquired during learning stages. Instead, new associations have to be established between the stimulus presented, acquired motor responses, and the associated outcomes. Monfardini et al. ( 2013 ) found that in line with activities of the pMNS, as outlined in the literature, both observational learning and individual trial-and-error learning activated a brain network that was also involved in simple action execution and observation. The increase in activations following outcome presentation was larger in observation learning than in trial-and-error learning in most trials. However, during the LeO task, the BOLD signal was larger in practice than in observation. The comparatively lower activation during the observation stage compared to the practice stage is a common finding in studies on pMNS and might be explained by the fact that only ~10% of premotor neurons respond to action observations in primates (Gallese et al., 1996 ; Keysers et al., 2003 ). It is therefore challenging to infer why observational learning induces a slightly larger BOLD signal than trial-and-error learning does in somatosensory motor regions. Researchers hypothesized that the BOLD signal in the somatosensorimotor regions were more activated in LeO due to the fact that unlike in the trial-and-error learning condition, responses were not given by the participants during the S-R acquisition stage (Monfardini et al., 2013 ). Thus, participants might be strong to mentally re-enact the observed response upon knowing whether it was to be associated with the stimulus or not. Without overt execution, it would be important to use additional mental re-enactments of others' actions to consolidate the S-R association that needs to be established during the learning process. This notion is consistent with proactive control in instruction-based learning, where goal-relevant information is actively maintained in preparation for the anticipated high control demand (Cole et al., 2018 ).

Ventral Striatum and Social Learning

Burke et al. ( 2010 ) found that the ventral striatum, a brain region that has been found to be frequently related with the processing of prediction errors in individual instrumental learning, showed the inverted coding patterns for observational prediction errors. Despite the fact that Burke et al. ( 2010 ) did not present participants with a game situation and there was no way that the behavior of the confederate would affect the probability of participants obtaining the reward, this inverse reward prediction error encoding of the confederate's behavioral outcomes was supported by previous studies emphasizing the critical role of the ventral striatum in competitive situations. Nevertheless, the following explanations must be carefully assessed, given that Burke et al. ( 2010 ) did not include non-social control trials in their task design. For example, the ventral striatum is involved when a competitor is punished (e.g., received less money than oneself). This gives rise to several future research directions including the role of the ventral striatum in learning from each other. In the meantime, are positive reward prediction errors a sophisticated result of viewing others' loss during observational learning, or it is simply rewarding to see the misfortune of others? Recent data suggested the perceived similarity between the personalities of the participant and the confederate modulates activities in the ventral striatum when observing a confederate succeed in a non-learning task. In action-only learning scenarios, the individual outcome prediction error signals from the ventral striatum not only increase the selection accuracies of one's own outcome-oriented choices but can also refine predictions of others' choices based on information about their past actions (Burke et al., 2010 ).

Concluding Remarks

In conclusion, observational learning is an important cognitive process in both animals who do not have language and humans whose infants imitate and learn from adults during development and early learning stages. We surveyed three kinds of methodological approaches in the investigation of this cognitive process, with emphasis on different stages of learning as well as on different modeling aspects. LPFC is essential for cognitive flexibility, which is required in observational learning where subjects have to rapidly learn rules from observing others' actions and outcomes associated with these actions. Trial-and-error learning and observational learning share some networks both during acquiring rules and applying rules, although observational learning also involves some additional networks. A neural working model has been developed for observational learning consisting of three phases: observation, acquisition, and response. This model is important because it disentangled the sub-processes and neural systems involved in observational learning. It provides foundations for future cognitive neuroscience and translational clinical research. Observational learning is different from imitation, both conceptually (observational learning involves processing of others' actions and outcomes to know how to react when encountering the same situation, whereas imitation only requires the subject to replicate others' actions) and neuroscientifically (the mirror neuron system is thought to be critical in imitation and is only partly activated in observational learning).

Future research questions include (a) how the observational learning processes in sports could be optimized to facilitate motor skill acquisition and improve performance, (b) how the brain activity patterns shift with practice in observational learning, and (c) how observational learning is employed in human infants that have not fully developed language abilities and how the brain supports this cognitive process. Imitation has been studied in children with the aim to understand its relationship with development (Sebastianutto et al., 2017 ). However, relatively little attention has been paid to observational learning from a developmental perspective. Unlike adults, neuroimaging methods such as fMRI and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) cannot be applied to infants, making it challenging to directly analyze brain activation patterns in the study of observational learning. Previous works using electroencephalogram (EEG) have elucidated the properties of the mu rhythm in infants during imitation (e.g., Marshall and Meltzoff, 2014 ), and it would be important for future studies to investigate how observational learning relates to development in infants and how observational learning differs from imitation in infants using EEG.

As observational learning and imitation allow for scenario-specific adaptive behavior, learning and task execution, increasing interest has been shown in the application of findings in both fields to computational modeling, artificial intelligence, and robotics (Liu et al., 2018 ). More specifically, research has demonstrated that biologically inspired learning models could be implemented to enable robotic learning by imitation and allow for human-robot collaboration (Chung et al., 2015 ). Furthermore, modeling of imitation and observational learning using robots facilitates testing and refinement of hypotheses in developmental psychology and human-robot interaction. In one previous study, developmental robots were used to model human cognitive development and to examine how learning could be achieved through interaction that involves mutual imitation (Boucenna et al., 2016 ). Taken together, in future studies, it would be of considerable relevance to examine how understanding of observational learning processes and imitation could lead to advancements in the fields of robotics and cognitive modeling.

From a clinical-translational perspective, previous research has revealed that functional connectivity of some of the LPFC networks are impacted in patients who suffer from traumatic brain injuries (Hampshire et al., 2013 ) or patients with neurodegenerative disorders (Grafman et al., 1992 ). As an example, patients with Parkinson's disease who had abnormal striatum function showed slower acquisition of contingency reversal learning paradigms (Williams-Gray et al., 2008 ). Therefore, another sensible future direction is to determine whether the connectivity effects observed during simple observational learning can provide clinical diagnostic markers in populations that suffer from cognitive impairments.

Limitations

The current review focused on neuroimaging literature of observational learning using healthy participants. Other methodologies (e.g., electrophysiology and lesion studies) may further confirm the role of each brain region in observational learning in our review. Moreover, a review on studies from atypical participants (e.g., infants, aging adults, people with neurological conditions) may provide further insights on the relevance of observational learning to other aspects (e.g., developmental theories and rehabilitation).

Author Contributions

WK: conceptualization, writing–original draft, visualization, writing–review & editing, and funding acquisition. SP: conceptualization, writing–original draft, and visualization. JM: writing–review & editing. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Funding. This work was supported by the Imperial Open Access Fund.

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Observational Behavior: How We Learn by Watching Others

Picture a toddler intently watching her mother’s every move as she prepares dinner, a fascinating dance of imitation and learning that holds the key to understanding the power of observational behavior. This simple yet profound scene encapsulates the essence of how humans learn, adapt, and grow through watching others. It’s a process that begins in infancy and continues throughout our lives, shaping our understanding of the world and our place in it.

Observational behavior, at its core, is the act of learning by watching and imitating others. It’s a fundamental aspect of human development that allows us to acquire new skills, understand social norms, and navigate complex environments without having to experience everything firsthand. This ability to learn from others is not unique to humans – it’s observed in many animal species – but the extent to which we rely on it is truly remarkable.

The importance of observational behavior in human learning and development cannot be overstated. From a child’s first steps to an adult mastering a new profession, our capacity to observe, internalize, and replicate behaviors is a cornerstone of our cognitive and social growth. It’s the invisible thread that weaves together our individual experiences with the collective knowledge of our society.

The study of observational behavior has a rich history in psychology and neuroscience. Early pioneers like Albert Bandura laid the groundwork with his social learning theory in the 1960s. Bandura’s famous “Bobo doll” experiments demonstrated how children could learn aggressive behaviors simply by watching adults, sparking a revolution in our understanding of Behavior Modeling: Shaping Actions Through Observation and Imitation .

Since then, researchers have delved deeper into the mechanisms that make observational learning possible. They’ve uncovered fascinating insights into the neurological basis of this phenomenon, shedding light on how our brains process and store information gleaned from watching others.

The Science Behind Observational Behavior

At the heart of observational behavior lies a complex interplay of neurological processes. When we observe someone performing an action, our brains don’t just passively record the information – they actively simulate the action as if we were performing it ourselves. This simulation occurs thanks to a special class of brain cells called mirror neurons.

Mirror neurons fire both when we perform an action and when we observe someone else performing the same action. They create a neural bridge between seeing and doing, allowing us to internalize observed behaviors in a way that primes us for future action. It’s as if our brains are rehearsing the observed behavior, even when we’re sitting still.

But mirror neurons are just part of the story. The cognitive processes involved in observational learning are multifaceted and complex. They include attention, memory, motivation, and the ability to translate observed actions into our own behavior. It’s a testament to the incredible plasticity of the human brain that we can seamlessly integrate observed behaviors into our own repertoire.

Types of Observational Behavior

Observational behavior manifests in several distinct forms, each playing a crucial role in how we learn and adapt to our environment.

Imitation is perhaps the most straightforward type of observational behavior. It involves directly copying observed behaviors, like a child mimicking their parent’s gestures or speech patterns. This form of learning is particularly prevalent in early childhood but continues throughout our lives as we encounter new situations and skills.

Vicarious learning, on the other hand, allows us to learn from others’ experiences without directly experiencing them ourselves. It’s a powerful tool that enables us to avoid potential dangers or capitalize on others’ successes. For instance, watching a colleague receive praise for a particular approach might encourage us to adopt similar strategies in our own work.

Social modeling takes observational learning a step further by shaping our behaviors based on social norms and expectations. We observe how others behave in various social contexts and adjust our own behavior accordingly. This process is crucial for Naturalistic Behavior: Observing Animals in Their Natural Habitats , and it’s equally important for humans navigating complex social landscapes.

Lastly, observational conditioning involves developing emotional responses to stimuli based on observed reactions. If we see someone reacting with fear to a particular situation, we might develop a similar fear response, even without direct exposure to the stimulus. This type of learning plays a significant role in shaping our emotional landscape and can be both adaptive and maladaptive.

Factors Influencing Observational Behavior

The effectiveness of observational learning depends on several key factors. Understanding these can help us harness the power of observational behavior more effectively in various contexts.

Attention is the first crucial factor. To learn from observation, we must first focus on the behavior being demonstrated. This might seem obvious, but in our increasingly distracted world, maintaining focused attention can be a challenge. The ability to direct and sustain attention is a skill that can be developed and improved over time.

Retention is the next step in the process. Once we’ve observed a behavior, we need to remember it. This involves encoding the information into our memory in a way that allows for later retrieval. Techniques like mental rehearsal or verbalization can enhance retention of observed behaviors.

Reproduction refers to our ability to actually perform the observed behavior. This often requires practice and may involve breaking down complex behaviors into smaller, manageable components. It’s important to note that Learning’s Impact on Behavior: Debunking the Myth is significant, and even if we can’t perfectly reproduce an observed behavior immediately, the learning process has still occurred.

Finally, motivation plays a crucial role in whether we choose to adopt an observed behavior. We’re more likely to imitate behaviors that we perceive as beneficial or that align with our goals and values. This is where Observant Conditioning: Harnessing the Power of Mindful Behavior Modification comes into play, as we can consciously choose which observed behaviors to integrate into our own repertoire.

Observational Behavior in Different Contexts

The power of observational behavior manifests in various contexts throughout our lives, shaping our development and interactions in profound ways.

In childhood development, observational learning is a primary means through which children acquire language, social skills, and cultural norms. Parents and caregivers serve as crucial models, with children absorbing not just explicit instructions but also subtle cues and behaviors. This process of Behavioral Observation and Screening: Essential Tools for Child Development and Welfare allows for early intervention when developmental issues arise.

Educational settings provide another rich environment for observational learning. Students learn not just from direct instruction, but also by watching their peers and teachers. Group work, demonstrations, and peer tutoring all leverage the power of observational behavior to enhance learning outcomes.

In the workplace, observational learning plays a crucial role in skill acquisition and professional development. New employees often learn the ropes by shadowing more experienced colleagues, absorbing not just technical skills but also workplace culture and norms. This form of learning can be particularly effective when combined with more formal training methods.

Cultural transmission relies heavily on observational behavior. Traditions, customs, and social norms are often passed down through generations via observation and imitation. This process ensures the continuity of cultural practices while also allowing for gradual evolution as new generations interpret and adapt observed behaviors.

Benefits and Limitations of Observational Behavior

While observational behavior is a powerful learning tool, it’s important to recognize both its advantages and potential drawbacks.

One of the primary benefits of learning through observation is its efficiency. It allows us to acquire new skills and knowledge without the need for trial-and-error learning, which can be time-consuming and potentially dangerous. Observational learning also enables us to learn complex behaviors that would be difficult to describe verbally or learn through direct instruction alone.

However, there are also potential risks associated with observational learning. One concern is the possibility of learning maladaptive or harmful behaviors. Just as children can learn positive behaviors from role models, they can also pick up negative behaviors if exposed to poor examples. This highlights the importance of providing positive models, especially for young learners.

Another limitation is that observational learning alone may not provide a deep understanding of why certain behaviors are effective or appropriate. Without accompanying explanation or context, learners might imitate behaviors without grasping the underlying principles or reasoning.

To maximize the benefits of observational learning while mitigating its limitations, it’s crucial to balance it with other forms of learning. Critical thinking skills play a vital role here, allowing learners to evaluate observed behaviors and decide whether and how to incorporate them into their own repertoire.

The Ongoing Importance of Observational Behavior

As we’ve explored, observational behavior is a fundamental aspect of human learning and development. From the toddler watching her mother cook to the seasoned professional honing their skills, our ability to learn by watching others shapes our lives in countless ways.

Understanding the mechanisms behind observational behavior can help us harness its power more effectively. By recognizing the role of attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation in this process, we can create environments that optimize observational learning. This knowledge has implications for parenting, education, workplace training, and beyond.

It’s worth noting that while observational behavior is a powerful learning tool, it’s not the only way we acquire knowledge and skills. Observable Behavior: Skinner’s Approach to Understanding Human Actions reminds us of the importance of direct reinforcement in shaping behavior. A comprehensive approach to learning and development should incorporate multiple strategies, including observational learning, direct instruction, and experiential learning.

As we look to the future, research into observational behavior continues to evolve. Advances in neuroscience are providing new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying this process. At the same time, the rise of digital technology is changing the landscape of observational learning, offering new opportunities (like online tutorials and virtual reality simulations) while also presenting new challenges (such as the potential for exposure to harmful online behaviors).

One intriguing area of ongoing research is the exploration of Unobservable Behavior: Types and Implications in Psychology . While much of our learning comes from observing others’ actions, there’s growing interest in understanding how we might infer and learn from unobservable mental states and processes.

Another fascinating avenue of study is Behavior Learned Under One Condition: Understanding Context-Specific Learning . This research explores how behaviors acquired through observation in one context might transfer (or fail to transfer) to different situations, providing insights into the generalizability of observational learning.

In the realm of workplace safety, researchers are investigating how Safety Behavior Observation: Implementing Effective Programs for Workplace Safety can leverage observational learning to create safer work environments. By encouraging employees to observe and report safe (and unsafe) behaviors, organizations can foster a culture of safety built on shared learning and responsibility.

The study of Observational Conditioning: Shaping Behavior Through Social Learning continues to yield insights into how our social environment shapes our behaviors and responses. This research has implications for understanding everything from phobias to consumer behavior.

As we continue to unravel the mysteries of observational behavior, one thing remains clear: our capacity to learn by watching others is a defining feature of human cognition. It’s a testament to the social nature of our species and the incredible adaptability of the human brain. By harnessing the power of observational behavior, we can continue to grow, learn, and evolve, both as individuals and as a society.

So the next time you find yourself unconsciously mimicking a friend’s gesture or picking up a new skill by watching a tutorial, take a moment to marvel at the complex cognitive processes at work. You’re participating in a fundamental human behavior that has shaped our species for millennia and continues to drive our development in the modern world. The dance of observational behavior, begun in infancy, continues throughout our lives, connecting us to each other and to the vast reservoir of human knowledge and experience.

References:

1. Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory. Prentice Hall.

2. Rizzolatti, G., & Craighero, L. (2004). The mirror-neuron system. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 27, 169-192.

3. Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. K. (1977). Imitation of facial and manual gestures by human neonates. Science, 198(4312), 75-78.

4. Heyes, C. (2012). What’s social about social learning? Journal of Comparative Psychology, 126(2), 193-202.

5. Schunk, D. H. (2012). Learning theories an educational perspective (6th ed.). Pearson.

6. Iacoboni, M. (2009). Imitation, empathy, and mirror neurons. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 653-670.

7. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1-26.

8. Tomasello, M. (2016). Cultural learning redux. Child Development, 87(3), 643-653.

9. Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. Oxford University Press.

10. Zimmerman, B. J., & Schunk, D. H. (Eds.). (2003). Educational psychology: A century of contributions. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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Observational Learning Analysis Essay

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Observational learning is induced onto a person by a third party in all cases. This learning takes place by way of a person looking at a third party performing an action. Observational learning can and will occur in any age bracket. The beauty of observational learning is that of interest generated by the observer and the subsequent internalization of the concept learned to serve the individual’s intended motive (Chance, 2008, p. 23).

At a local competition in a game of handball, sidestepping is one among several moves that are used to penetrate the defensive wall of opponents. In any game, high scores translate to winning. Unfortunately, since my sidestep was poor I couldn’t score. I generated interest by observing how easy it was to score once I observed an opponent performing the move that subsequently translated to him scoring many goals. The essence of this illustration is that by observing how the move was performed on several occasions I was able to master this beautiful skill and eventually would be able to dislodge any defense and create chances of scoring.

There are a number of steps that are involved in observational learning and attention is one of them. The observer ought to be keen to and pay attention to details where necessary. Lack of the observer being attentive would out rightly lead to failure to grasp the underlying concepts in what is being observed. It also calls for the observer to pay attention to the major aspects of what is being observed. Failure to this learning would be deemed to have not taken place or there was little learning. The emotion of the observer also plays a role in the eventual internalization (Chance, 2008, p. 31).

The observer’s retentional processes swing into action after observation. This entails a brief imitation of what was being observed. The essence of this is that it aids the observer to recall some of the aspects of what was being observed. In the first place, it would be hard to perfectly carry out the move hence the observer would do it in his own way, immediately following what was observed. The perfection depends heavily on the observer because it is by doing it in his own way and comparing this against what was being done and identifying flaws in what he has done and that need to be done in order to attain perfection (Chance, 2008, p. 34).

An individual must have the motor reproductive processes required to perform the required processes. It translates to the individual’s ability to perform what was observed. While we may grudgingly accept that some people may observe the third party performing an action they may not be able to perform the same yet others would perform what has been observed with a lot of ease and in fact a lot better. This boils down to the fact that the motor reproductive processes vary (Knowles & McLean 1992, p. 66).

Motivation plays a major role in observational learning. it comes in several forms depending on what is being observed. Quite often they are the rewards that motivate an individual. It could come in various forms but it’s always relevant to the subject (Knowles & McLean 1992, p. 66).

By observing other players make those special moves, it dawns on me that I can perform them too and possibly give it my own personal touch and maybe do it much better. The significance of this is that it gives people a chance to learn from each other and it also gives us the opportunity to teach others what we know.

Chance, P. (2008). Learning and Behavior: Active Learning Edition . Belmont, USA: Cengage Learning

Knowles, R & McLean, G. (1992). Psychological Foundations of Moral Education and Character Development: An Integrated Theory of Moral Development . Washington DC: CRVP

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How to Write an Observation Essay: Observation Paper Guide and Observation essay Example

What is an observational essay

Definition of an observational essay, types of observational essays, main components of an observational essay, how to start writing an observation essay, choosing an observation topic, gathering information through observation, creating a strong thesis statement, observation essay structure, writing the introduction paragraph, organizing the body paragraphs effectively, concluding an observation essay, tips for writing an effective observation paper, using descriptive language, incorporating the five senses, observation essay examples and topics, 20 observation essay topics for college, reviewing observation essay examples, creating an observation essay outline.

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on how to write an observation paper . Whether you’re a student looking to enhance your writing skills or an individual interested in honing your observation skills , this guide will provide you with valuable insights and tips on how to create a compelling and descriptive observation paper .

Here's What You'll Learn

Observation essay example

Write an observation essaytoggle, key takeaways.

• Recording observations, interpreting notes, and organizing them are crucial processes in writing an observation paper .
• Be mindful of important details such as date, time, and locality when taking field notes.
• Use qualitative and descriptive language to convey your observations effectively.
• Structure your observation paper around a research question and employ a clear and plain writing style.
• An observation essay focuses on diligently observing and describing the subject, without requiring analysis or problem-solving.

Now that you have a glimpse of what this guide will cover, let’s dive deeper into the definition and goals of an observation essay in the next section.

Understanding the Definition and Goals of an Observation Essay

An observation essay is an academic paper that focuses on making detailed observations and providing a rich description of objects, events, natural phenomena, or individuals. Unlike other types of essays, an observation essay does not require analysis or problem-solving. Instead, it aims to immerse the reader in the observation by diligently describing the subject.

When writing an observation essay, it is essential to employ vivid language and present tense to create a sense of immediacy and realism. By using descriptive and sensory details, the writer can effectively engage the reader and transport them into the observation itself.

The structure of an observation essay typically follows a standard essay format, consisting of an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion . In the introduction, the writer provides background information about the observation and presents a clear thesis statement. The body paragraphs serve as a platform for presenting the observations in a logical and organized manner, supported by relevant details and examples. Finally, the conclusion restates the thesis and offers a reflection on the overall observation, leaving the reader with a lasting impression.

Tips for Writing an Effective Observation Essay

In order to write an effective observation essay, there are a few key tips to keep in mind. First and foremost, choose a subject that truly fascinates you. Writing about something you are genuinely interested in will make the entire process more enjoyable and will also help you to stay engaged throughout.

When it comes to actually observing the subject of your essay, use all of your senses to create a vivid and detailed picture. This will not only make your writing more immersive for the reader, but it will also help you to capture the essence of what you are observing. Whether it’s sights, sounds, smells, tastes, or textures, paying attention to these sensory details will elevate your observation essay to the next level.

Another important tip is to apply the present tense in your writing. By using the present tense, you can create a sense of immediacy and make the events you are describing feel more real. This will help to engage the reader and make them feel as though they are experiencing the observation firsthand.

Lastly, be attentive to details and draw on your personal experiences. Including specific and unique details in your essay will make it more interesting and immersive for the reader. Additionally, sharing your own personal experiences and reflections throughout the essay will add depth and authenticity to your writing.

By following these tips, you can ensure that your observation essay is engaging, descriptive, and effective in capturing the essence of your subject.

Table: Tips for Writing an Effective Observation Essay

In conclusion , mastering the art of writing an observation essay requires honing your writing skills and employing effective descriptive writing techniques. By following the tips provided in this guide, you can enhance your ability to capture the details of your observations and engage your readers.

Writing Skills: Writing an observation essay allows you to develop and showcase your writing skills . Through diligent practice, you can improve your ability to convey your observations in a clear and engaging manner, effectively communicating your experiences to your audience.

Descriptive Writing: Descriptive writing is essential in an observation essay. By utilizing vivid language and sensory details, you can transport your readers into the scene, immersing them in the events and making your essay more captivating.

Conclusion: In conclusion, an observation essay is a powerful tool for exploring and sharing your observations. By selecting a subject that interests you, applying present tense, and structuring your essay in a logical manner, you can effectively convey your observations and leave a lasting impression on your readers.

What is an observation essay?

An observation essay is an academic paper that involves making observations and providing a detailed description of objects, events, natural phenomena, or individuals.

What should be included in an observation essay?

An observation essay should include vivid descriptions, use of present tense, personal experience, and attention to detail.

How should an observation essay be structured?

An observation essay should follow a standard essay structure, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

What is the goal of an observation essay?

The goal of an observation essay is to diligently observe and describe the subject without analysis or problem-solving.

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Observational Learning Essays

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Observational Learning Overview

Introduction

Differences and similarities, life examples of the observation learning.

People usually gain new knowledge at the expense of their environment, and each individual chooses the most suitable type of learning process. One of the most common learning strategies is observation and conditioning, which can be both related and separate. These principles affect human life and bring many positive aspects to the education procedure. Learning strategies help people to become part of society and start self-development.

Observational learning is an adoption of the experience of others, and it usually helps people adjust to quick changes in the world (Carcea & Froemke, 2019). Controversially, conditioning is a learning process when human knowledge is associated with a person’s environment and natural internal feelings.

The definitions of these two types of learning are different but can be mixed in one educational development. For instance, in conditioning learning, people develop reflexes by interacting with the environment. This environment includes surrounding people, who teach different aspects of life and increase observational learning. Personal understanding of the world has a huge impact on the observation of others’ experiences. Moreover, an extinction principle of conditioning learning always requires being around people, increasing observational learning.

While visiting new cafés, I usually struggle with finding sugar and lids for cups. However, by observing other customers, I become more oriented, and this problem does not bother me anymore. Moreover, when I travel abroad or to a different city, I always observe the most famous routes online and try to understand how public transport is used. Consequently, I am less nervous and always sure that I will not be lost. Observation learning usually manifests in children’s development, and usually, it brings positive effects. For example, by spending all their time with parents, children learn how to speak and walk. More mature children, being surrounded by peers, quicker gain communication skills.

Observational learning is an integral part of every person’s life as basic skills are gained by interacting with others. People build their relation to the environment by communication and inner development. Consequently, this type of learning can exist separately, but with the help of other educational types such as conditioning it becomes more advanced. Actions of these two strategies exist in many areas of life, and they usually have positive effects.

Carcea, I., & Froemke, R. C. (2019). Biological mechanism for observational learning. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 54, 178-185.

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Observational Learning: The Power of Observation

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The Components of Observational Learning

• Attention: To engage in observational learning, individuals must first direct their attention toward the behavior or action they wish to learn. Paying close attention to the model's actions is the initial step in the process.
• Memory: After observing the behavior, it is imperative to remember and retain the information. Memory allows individuals to recall the observed actions when needed.

• Motivation: Motivation serves as the driving force behind observational learning. Individuals are more likely to engage in and retain learned behaviors when they are motivated by a specific goal or desire.

Real-Life Applications of Observational Learning

1. musical skill acquisition, 2. culinary expertise, 3. bicycle riding, the ubiquity of observational learning, the power of observation in education, 1. peer learning, 2. role models in education, 3. practical skill acquisition, the controversy surrounding observational learning.

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Observation Essay

Observation essay generator.

To properly observe something, you need to make use of all your five senses. Paying attention to all the details and being level-headed is a must. That said, a lot of effort goes into the act of observing something. The data gathered in your observation, whatever it may be, is necessary. Therefore you should write an observation essay and share your findings with the readers. 

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What Is an Observation Essay?

An observation essay is a piece of academic essay that incorporates the observer’s perspective over a situation, event, behavior, phenomenon, and even a person. In this document, the writer should state everything he or she directly noticed on the subject. In addition, they can also use first-person narration in this paper.

How to Write a Well-Versed Observation Essay

Whether you are a student writing an essay of your observation for a school assignment or educational research , or maybe a professional conducting a business analysis , you should compose it critically. The findings you present in your observation essay could be necessary to your field or industry. To keep it professional and informative, incorporate appropriate elements and organize it properly. 

1. Follow Guidelines

If there are guidelines provided, ensure to read them beforehand. The list usually includes instructions regarding the format, the length, essential questions, the structure, and the deadline. To avoid forgetting the items to remember, you can secure a checklist beforehand. These details will act as your guide and will set the limits for your essay writing . 

2. Devise an Outline

Considering that you already finished observing, take out your notes, and start constructing your outline. Consider basing its structure on the guidelines. You should decide what information goes on in a particular paragraph and organize it to be comprehensive to the general readers. You can save your energy by researching sample blank outline templates online instead of starting from scratch.

3. Compose Your Thesis Statement

Write your thesis statement in your introduction. After writing your hook and engaging your readers, it is now time to state what the essay will discuss. What did you observe? What are the general idea and nature of your essay? Your thesis statement will act as the central idea of your descriptive writing. Its length must only be one sentence. 

4. Close With a Detailed Conclusion

After presenting the main ideas and supporting your claims, you should provide a conclusion statement that would sum it all up. In the last paragraph, you should restate the thesis statement and explain how all of these ideas are relevant to each other. Your conclusion should link back to the idea in your introduction.

How do you observe something properly?

The practice of observing is necessary for writing field reports of studies, especially in science and psychology. When you do an observation of something, it is advisable to research the subject you are studying. Also, you need to focus on your visual and hearing senses and your thought process. Avoid or get rid of factors that can distract you.

What are the different methods of observing?

The various methods of observing are categorized based on the level of involvement of the observer with the subject. If an observer is not noticed or personally seen by the participants, then he or she is employing the complete observer method. On the other hand, if the subjects recognize and interact with the observer, the implemented method is observer as participant.

How should you note your observations?

The first step in taking field notes of your observation is, write down the necessary details of the subject. Also, you should include the time and place. In writing your findings, you should stay objective and factual. Also, don’t forget to write a description of the setting and the materials involved.

The readers of your observation essay are not present at the time you did your observation. An observation essay is effective if its content is enough to supply information that would make the readers feel as if they are personally present at that time. Secure an observation essay, and earn an award certificate from your school or your work. 

Text prompt

• Instructive
• Professional

Discuss the behavior of animals at a zoo and what it reveals about them in your Observation Essay.

Reflect on the atmosphere of a music concert you attended in your Observation Essay.

• Open access
• Published: 23 September 2024

Participant observation for inquiry-based learning: a document analysis of exam papers from an internship-course for master’s students in health services research in Germany

• Charlotte Ullrich 1 , 2 ,
• Sandra Ziegler 1 , 2 ,
• Alicia Armbruster 1 , 2 ,
• Michel Wensing 1 &
• Nadja Klafke 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  1033 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

Metrics details

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is a type of problem-based learning. While IBL aims at reflecting the work of practicing researchers, only some students will pursue an academic career. We therefore designed a course that provides opportunities for IBL by applying participant observation to internship work experience inside and outside academia. Using this internship course as an example, we investigated, how master’s students in health science executed an IBL assignment regarding the application of participant observation and presentation of findings. In addition, the understanding of occupational fields provided through the IBL assignment was examined.

To determine whether learning objectives were met, a document analysis of IBL assignments comprising presentation slides and field protocols was performed. Within content analysis, a category grid was used examining (a) suitability of chosen research objectives , (b) execution of field protocols , (c) sufficiency of reporting and (d) extent of reflection .

49 IBL assignments from the years 2020–2022 were included. Sides of IBL observations were: (a) organizations providing health care ( n  = 28); (b) administrations of health care ( n  = 8); and (c) research institutes ( n  = 13). Within students’ field protocols, the level of detail of descriptions differed. 30 assignments included reflection on the methods used and research experience. In about a third of IBL assignments, indication of observation type, theoretical background and data analysis was missing.

Using participant observation of internship work-experience for IBL can serve as a teaching tool for students to develop methodological skills. For future courses, we developed a checklist to strengthen reporting, reflection and use of theory. As internships are often integrated in degree programs in health sciences similar courses could be implemented in different programs, given qualified methodological guidance.

Peer Review reports

IBL is a type of problem-based learning in which students apply methods comparable to those of professional researchers in the respective field [ 1 ]. Across disciplines, inquiry-based learning (IBL) is considered an effective way for students to learn through self-directed investigation. Students take an active role while teachers primarily serve as facilitators rather than traditional lecturers. As a basic principle, IBL requires a learning environment that divides the scientific process into smaller units to guide students and draw their attention to specific aspects of scientific thinking. Depending on intended learning outcomes, students’ skills and interests as well as curricula requirements, formats might vary regarding suitable topics’ suitability, comprehensiveness of the learning tasks, teachers’ guidance’ and students’ autonomy (e.g. regarding provision of questions, methods and materials) [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. In higher education, IBL has been shown to be beneficial for developing students’ inquiry skills and for improving their engagement, motivation and performance [ 5 ]. In addition, it helps students to develop skills for working in complex and unpredictable environments, enhancing critical thinking, [ 6 , 7 ]. However, despite the benefits of using IBL, it is still relatively uncommon in higher education [ 5 ].

While IBL aims at reflecting the work of practicing researchers, only some students in health-related courses will pursue an academic career. Work experience, in contrast, aims at applying academic skills to real world work settings offering students insights for the remaining studies and preparing them for the job market after graduation. Participant observation as an ethnographic method based on field work can serve as a method providing both: (a) an opportunity to apply research methods and (b) establish an in-depth understanding of occupational fields. Overall, within health sciences, the potential of participant observation is being increasingly discussed, stressing the benefits to investigate on actual practice itself, instead of indirect questionnaire or interview-accounts, [ 8 , 9 ]. In addition, ethnographic methods can contribute to narrowing the distance between theoretical knowledge and everyday practice in health service research [ 10 ]. Traditionally associated with lengthy presence and intense participation in day-to-day-life to gain holistic insights into the habits of a collective, within health sciences ethnographic data collection is often condensed to gain insights in specific sites or situations [ 11 , 12 ].

Besides general characteristics of scientific practice, learning objectives of IBL assignments based on participant observation have to address specific methodological features: Based on research literature and experience, the following learning objectives can be defined: (a) Research objectives: Participant observation is suitable for research projects seeking to understand participants’ behaviour, interactions and practices in particular situations. It requires settings where direct observations and some degree of participation are sensible. (b) Field protocols: Sound results presume field notes comprising thorough documentation with detailed accounts, separation of description and interpretation and continuing reflection. (c) Presentation of results: These aspects have to be sufficiently reported. (d) Reflection: Reflection of research experience is an inherent part of both IBL and participant observation. For these learning objectives to be met, they have to be aligned with teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks (constructive alignment) [ 13 ].

Aim and research question

Using an internship course of a masters’ program in health services research as an example, we aimed to analyze how students executed an IBL assignment with regards to the application of participant observation and presentation of findings. In addition, we aimed to examine the understanding of occupational fields provided through the IBL assignment.

Study design

Reflecting the explorative nature of the research aim, a qualitative research design was chosen comprising a document analysis of exam presentation slides and corresponding field protocols. Documents created as part of an educational process can provide empirical insights into the learning experience [ 14 ]. Our analysis is based on exam papers as anonymized aggregated data. The study aims at improving the quality of teaching and learning. With enrolment, students confirm in writing, that study data can be used for administrative and evaluative purposes. In additionethics approval for this study was granted by the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg, Germany (S012/2016). Methods were reported according to the Checklist for the use and reporting of document analysis in health professions education research (CARDA) [ 14 ].

Data collection

All IBL assignments handed in by students after 2020 were eligible for inclusion, as the curriculum was modified in 2019. Initially collected within the study program for quality management purposes, all data were electronically filed and stored on secure servers at the Department of General Practice and Health Services Research, Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany.

Data Analysis

Data analysis focused on content using a category grid reflecting learning objectives and general internship characteristics. This deductive approach of allocating data to pre-identified themes was complemented by inductively adding sub-themes throughout data analysis. To determine whether learning objectives were met, we examined; (a) suitability of chosen research objectives in terms of observable (inter)actions, (b) execution of field protocols in terms of detail and separation of description and analysis, (c) sufficiency of presentation in terms of reporting as well as (d) extent of reflection in terms of internship and research experience. Data were analyzed by three researchers (AA, NK, CU), with prior experience in qualitative methods. Derived themes were discussed and consented regularly within the research team (AA, NK, CU, SZ). Extracted data were analyzed and reported as absolute frequencies. The software package MAXQDA, Analytics Pro 2020 was used for data management and to facilitate coding. No automation or AI tools were used.

Approach and course concept

The IBL course, which is offered each year and was first taught in 2016, was designed for a master’s degree program in health services research and implementation science at Heidelberg University, Germany. The consecutive master’s program comprises two academic years, corresponding to 120 ECTS credit points (CP), which are equivalent to 3600 h of total student workload. The goal of the master’s degree is to train students at an advanced level of health sciences including empirical research methods. A bachelor’s degree from within health science and a proof of basic skills (180 h/6 CP) in research methods are required for entering the master’s program. However, at the time of entering the program, skills in qualitative research varied and were almost exclusively limited to qualitative interviews. The masters’ program accepts 20 students per year. About 1/3 of the students are trained within a health care profession.

Aims of the course

Objectives of the course, which was designed as both an internship accompanying seminar and IBL course, were: (a) providing an opportunity to learn research skills in using (participant) observation as a qualitative research method and (b) establishing an in-depth understanding of occupational fields in health care.

Content of the course

The IBL course was taught by three teachers with a background in health services research and interdisciplinary anthropology (SZ), psychology (NK) and sociology (CU) respectively. Participant observations was introduced in a mandatory 90-minute class (SZ) highlighting its historical origin within anthropology, basic ideas of ethnography, characteristics and reach of participant observation. For writing up field notes towards field protocols, a three-column chart was recommended to distinguish observations and analysis, comprising a) a detailed description of observations, b) analytical notes , documenting the reactions, questions, interpretations and ideas of the researcher c) themes/codes derived from a first round of open coding. Prompts for fieldnotes (e.g., description of situations and participants’, communication styles) and examples for the three-column chart were provided.

Delivery format

The IBL course comprises a 7-week-long work placement accompanied by on-going monthly complementary classes. The total course credit sums up to 12 CP (360 h) including: (a) 280 h internship (b) attending four mandatory classes including the introduction, (c) assignments of keeping a field diary and documentation of three observations and (d) exam: 10–15 min oral presentation and following discussion (see Table  1 ). Students were asked to meet up with one of the teachers at least once to determine a suitable research focus. The course was designed as a pass-fail course; therefore, no mark was given.

Sample and internship characteristics

In total, 49 IBL assignments from four cohorts (defined by the year students were enrolled in the master’s program) of the years 2020–2022 were included (see Table  2 ). This corresponds to all presentations held during that time. Within two assignments field protocols were missing. Nonetheless, these could be included in the analysis, since the presentations comprised sufficient extracts of the field protocols. Variation in numbers of course participants were related to part-time students. Presentations typically included 15 slides, field protocols on average two to four pages per observation. All presentations and field protocols were in German, the main language of instruction within the master’s program. Of the students providing the presentation, five of the 49 were male and about a third had a professional background in health care, mirroring the general characteristics of the student population. Internship length was 140 to 280 h, either fulfilled over three to eight weeks full-time or part-time over a period of several months.

For the IBL assignment, most students selected internship experience ( n  = 40); the remaining students ( n  = 9) selected their professional employment in health care. Work places were (a) organizations providing health care ( n  = 28), including nursing homes ( n  = 2) and hospitals ( n  = 26), of which 22 were university hospitals; (b) other organizations in health care ( n  = 8), such as government departments and health insurances and (c) research institutes ( n  = 13), mostly universities ( n  = 8). The focus of work experiences reflected these employer types to some extent: Most students were mainly involved in research activities ( n  = 31), such as literature reviews, developing questionnaires and interview guides, data analysis and overall research management. Some students ( n  = 5) were involved in academic teaching, mainly in the role of (assistant) teachers. Provision of health care ( n  = 4) included assisting nursing and patient involvement. Administrative tasks ( n  = 8) included preparation of meetings and reports, often based on literature research.

Research objectives

A research objective was specified in all presentations, most addressed either communication in videoconferences, e.g., concerning active participation or technical difficulties ( n  = 14) or some aspect of research practice ( n  = 11), e.g., conducting interviews. Further objectives included patient care ( n  = 7), teaching ( n  = 4) and handling of Covid-19 regulations ( n  = 4) (see Table  3 : section A). Observation settings were largely either virtual ( n  = 20) or face-to-face meetings ( n  = 23), with two observations of telephone conversation and four with mixed settings. Research participants varied and often included a mix of people: Researchers were observed most often ( n  = 29), followed by health care providers ( n  = 16) and patients/relatives ( n  = 11). In 35 cases, observing students included themselves in the descriptions.

Field protocols

Most protocolled observations within reports included room description ( n  = 45), most contained direct quotes ( n  = 42), some used description of persons ( n  = 12) and a few comprised sketches and/or pictures of places observed ( n  = 4) (see Table  3 : section B). Overall, detail of description varied, ranging from rather abstract monosyllabic reports with little situation-specific portrayal to comprehensive, in-depth reports with lively accounts. Within all reports ( n  = 49), anonymization was used, primarily employing pseudonyms for people observed. However, the degree of anonymization differed, some omitting indicating professions, gender and employment titles and some masking identifying characteristics of employers. While anonymization did not limit documenting observation within most reports, observations were reduced to mere generic enumeration of events in a few exceptional ones. For structuring field protocols all students used the suggested columns to separate observations and analytical notes ( n  = 49). All but one also included the third column on emerging codes and themes. The level of detail within columns and accuracy of separation differed.

Presentation and reporting

All IBL assignments included a description of the characteristics of the employer and information on the work activities ( n  = 49) (see Table  3 : section C). Most presentations ( n  = 39) included literature-based background informationon communication and use of online meetings ( n  = 16), challenges in health care ( n  = 7), good research practice and scientific integrity ( n  = 7), organization and management ( n  = 5) or the impact of Covid-19 regulations ( n  = 2). Some students explicitly listed theoretical concepts used ( n  = 15), which were mostly communication or organizational theories.

Most ( n  = 39) presentations included a description of data conduction: The majority was based on participant observation ( n  = 30), often using open observation ( n  = 16). Overall, methods of data analysis were sparsely reported ( n  = 34): General description of data analysis without references to theoretical or methodological schools or authors ( n  = 16) usually shortly indicated whether themes/codes were derived inductively and/or deductively. For describing methods of data conduction and data analysis, recommended readings of the IBL course ( n  = 18) and/or the overall master’s’ course ( n  = 14) were often used. 27 did not refer to methodological literature at all.

All presentations ( n  = 49) included some kind of conclusion addressing results, reflections and/or recommendations. Most students discussed their observations on the content level ( n  = 34) providing primarily neutral descriptions. This was discernible when students were reporting on “general conditions, settings and factors” ( n  = 11) or “factors influencing virtual and face-to-face meetings” ( n  = 10). Many students addressed the meaning of their findings in relation to the observed participants ( n  = 19) and stated that certain communication strategies ( n  = 7) or coping strategies and leadership behavior ( n  = 6) could be instructive for them at future work places. Only the minority of students discussed their results on a personal level ( n  = 7), and most of them valued the internship combined with the participant observation assessment as an exciting and stimulating experience ( n  = 4) which made them aware of new career prospects ( n  = 2). Only one student reported that she experienced the internship as a “one-sided activity” ( n  = 1).

Reflection on the methods and research experience were part of most presentations ( n  = 30) (see Table  3 : section D). Predominantly mentioned topics were observer roles, field access and participants’ consent. The first topic ( n  = 23) included problematizations of observing while participating and the risk of overidentifying with observed people’s perspectives (“going native”) as well as observer bias due to previous experience within the field. Additionally, students saw challenges in cases where they perceived that there were too many or too few people and/or interactions accessible for observation. Field access and identification of observable situations ( n  = 12) largely referred to limitations within home-office-settings and online-meetings. Reflections on informed consent ( n  = 10) addressed the extent of consent, e.g., when, and how many times the student’s own role as researcher should be thematized, whom to inform, and how to handle confidentiality agreements regarding internship content. In addition, some students reflected on difficulties in determining a research focus ( n  = 5).

The objective of the IBL assignment and reflection of the internship experience point to an in-depth understanding of the studied participants’ perspectives. In addressing communication and work-culture, participant observation allowed students to investigate how everyday experiences are shaped by institutional contexts. This confirms results of a study on patient shadowing as a teaching tool in premedical undergraduate education [ 17 ] and findings of a participant observations exercise within a medical students’ course on health care for refugees [ 18 ]. This highlights the potential of observations as a data collection method to understand often tacit and hidden rules that influence health care, as it is currently thematized under the term “institutional ethnography” [ 19 , 20 ].

All students embraced the IBL assignment of using participant observation taking up recommended readings and suggested strategies, e.g., the three-column chart, writing a detailed, concrete description and using direct quotes for more vividness. Students addressed significant methodological topics in ethnographic research, such as finding a focus, field access, the observer role and participants’ consent. However, reporting on some methodological aspects was incomplete: Most notably, about a third of the IBL assignments lacked indication of observation type, theoretical background and strategy of data analysis. These results show parallels to findings on reporting quality in the health sciences [ 21 , 22 ] and, in particular, difficulties regarding data analysis and relation to theory [ 23 ].

A meta-analysis of 72 studies suggested that adequate guidance to assist learners is essential to successful inquiry-based learning [ 2 ]. At the same time, there is a need to create a learning environment that allows the freedom to examine a topic independently [ 1 , 5 ]. The discussed assignment was limited to a section of the research process, focusing on formulating an initial research question, documenting three singular observations and reporting of first findings. Students were provided an introductory course, counseling and methodological prompts and references. Completed assignments and students’ feedback suggest that scope, time frame and workload of the assignment were suitable and guidance concerning field protocols sufficient. However, guidance regarding content of the presentation should be specified, highlighting reporting, reflection and the use of theoretical knowledge. Based on these noted discrepancies with recommended research practices and teaching objectives, we developed a checklist for future sources for students as a scaffold to address these topics more explicitly (see supplementary material  1 ) [ 24 ].

This study was limited to one masters’ program only; however, the diverse students’ backgrounds and skills, point to transferability of results. Data of this study were limited to written assignments, wherefore, additional aspects only presented orally were not included. From our experience, discussions in class were often more direct in addressing good scientific practice and work culture. Feedback from teachers often highlighted methodological reflections and the importance of separating normative evaluation from the description. The course was designed as a pass-fail course without specific grades. This setup could have influenced students’ performance either by allowing more freedom and self-direction or by limiting motivation and effort. Additionally, most students took the IBL course as one of the last assignments of the master’s program, often parallel to starting the master’s thesis. This, too, could have influenced motivation and performance.

Our study has shown, that the use of participant observation is not restricted to learning a scientific practice in a narrow sense. It can also provide students a better understanding of organizational culture and hierarchies of potential future work places within and beyond an academic career in health care. Participant observation is a flexible research strategy which is highly adaptable to (changing) research objectives and field settings – within IBL it is also adaptable concerning comprehensiveness of the learning task. As internships are often an inherent part of degree programs in health sciences, given qualified methodological guidance, similar courses could be implemented in other educational programs.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Credit Points within the ECTS, 1 CP = 30h workload

European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Lara Cordes (LC) for contribution to a first draft for data extraction themes in an early phase of the study.

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Contributions

NK and CU drafted and prepared the manuscript, AA, MW and SZ provided substantial comments at different stages of the manuscript. MW is the head, CU the coordinator of the master’s program in health services research and implementation science at Heidelberg University, Germany. NK, CU and SZ jointly teach the IBL-course within this program, with SZ teaching the introductory class on ethnographic methods. All three designed this study. AA, LC, NK, CU and SZ collaborated on planning the data analysis. AA supported data management. AA, NK, and CU reviewed, extracted and analyzed the data. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Charlotte Ullrich .

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Approval for the study was obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University Hospital, Germany (S012/2016). With enrolment, students confirm informed in writing that study data can be used for administrative and evaluative purposes. As this study aims at improving quality of teaching and is based on exam papers, a waiver for additional informed consent was granted. Any information with the potential to identify individuals has been anonymized.

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Ullrich, C., Ziegler, S., Armbruster, A. et al. Participant observation for inquiry-based learning: a document analysis of exam papers from an internship-course for master’s students in health services research in Germany. BMC Med Educ 24 , 1033 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05740-4

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