Observational Learning: Simple Yet Powerful

One of the things my parents tell me about the most, when reminiscing about my early childhood, is how much I mimicked my father. I would follow him around all day while he did chores around the house or out in the yard. When he would mow the lawn, I had a toy lawn mower and would follow him around the yard with it. Looking back on that now through the scope of this course, I realize I was exhibiting Observational Learning. Observational Learning, simply put, is learning by watching others. According to the textbook (and common sense) major role models, like parents, are the ones who are observed and learned from by their children the most. Things like daily chores around the home, social activities and even habits can be observed and taken on by the observer. For example, once I became old enough, I did mow the lawn like my father.

Besides parents and other people, Observational Learning can come from other forms of communication, like the media (video games, movies, TV shows, etc.). One concern that arises from observing this content is that it could lead to learning habits and behaviors that are harmful, like excessive aggression. This can come from watching violent shows or movies, as well as playing violent video games. Though there is no causational proof that this can occur, there is plenty of proof that shows a correlation between such forms of media and observer aggression. According the Lilienfeld textbook, longitudinal studies have been performed that show that "children who choose to watch many violent television shows commit more aggressive acts years later than do children who choose to watch fewer violent television shows."

Both of these aspects of Observational Learning give testament not only to how powerful this type of learning is in its simplicity, but also to how important it is to have a level of discretion with what is observed. This is true for people of all age ranges. It is also important to note that this type of learning was and still is paramount to the survival of humans as a species. After all, by observing and learning we avoid having to learn the hard way through mistakes. Can you think of something you've observed and that you have learned from (simple or life changing)?