Question

How might the concept of vicarious or observational learning be reconciled with a behaviorist approach to learning?

Answer 1

The behavioral approach to learning says that all behavior is learned and therefore all behavior can be unlearned and new behaviors learned in its place. Behaviorists assume that the only things that are real are the things we can see and observe, therefore the main elements of analysis should be the human behavior.

The vicarious or observational learning is that learning which occurs by observing the behavior of others. This means that there are certain principles that need to be followed in order for learning to occur. These principles are-

1.     Attention- the learner first attends to the behavior of any other person.

2.     Retention- this behavior that is attended is retained by the individual who observed that behavior.

3.     Moto reproduction- the behavior that was retained previously is now reproduced by the learner.

4.     Motivation- if the learner gets a positive response to the reproduced behavior, then that behavior gains motivational properties and there is a great likelihood that the same behavior will be reproduced in future.

The basic characteristic of observational learning is that the behavior is learned and reinforced by the repeated use of the same behavior by the learner.

According to behaviorist school of thought, learning is any permanent change in behavior. It may occur in the form of classical or operant conditioning or it may be in the form of observational learning.

Behaviorists talked about the relationship between a stimulus and a response. They said that when a stimulus evokes a response and that response is reinforced, the behavior will be learned. This means that they majorly talked about creating associations between the stimulus and the response. Therefore, by observing the behavior and reproducing the behavior acquires or enables the learner to learn and make changes in his behavior.