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Psychology vocabulary · Learning and Behaviour

Observational learning

Meaning in psychology, with examples

nounCommon term

In psychology, observational learning means: Learning a behaviour by watching others and the consequences of their actions, then copying or avoiding that behaviour, without direct reward or practice.

In Turkish: gözlem yoluyla öğrenme, model alarak öğrenme, sosyal öğrenme

How it is used

Linked to Albert Bandura's social learning theory and the Bobo doll experiments. Related terms are modelling, imitation and vicarious reinforcement. It helps explain how children pick up aggression, fears and skills.

Example sentences

  1. In the Bobo doll studies, children showed observational learning by copying an adult's aggressive behaviour.

  2. Observational learning helps explain why children of anxious parents may also avoid feared situations.

Common collocations

  • social learning theory
  • modelling behaviour
  • vicarious reinforcement
  • learn through observation
  • operant conditioningLearning in which behaviour changes because of its consequences: actions followed by reinforcement become more frequent, and actions followed by punishment become less frequent.
  • reinforcementIn learning theory, any consequence that makes a behaviour more likely to happen again, either by adding something pleasant or by removing something unpleasant.
  • behaviourEverything a person or animal does that can be observed, such as actions, reactions and habits, often studied as a response to the environment.
  • classical conditioningA type of learning in which a neutral stimulus, after being paired many times with a stimulus that naturally causes a response, comes to cause a similar response on its own.

More terms: Learning and Behaviour

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