Blackwell Reference Online

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Observational learning is concerned with the acquisition of attitudes, values, and styles of thinking and behaving through observation of the examples provided by others (→  Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs, Media Effects on ). Psychological theories have traditionally emphasized learning from direct experience. Natural endowment provides humans with enabling biological systems but few inborn skills. These must be developed over long periods and altered to fit changing conditions over the life course. If knowledge and skills had to be shaped laboriously by trial-and-error experiences without the benefit of modeled guidance, human development would be greatly retarded, not to mention exceedingly tedious and hazardous. Errors can produce costly or even fatal consequences. Moreover, the constraints of time, resources, and mobility impose severe limits on the situations and activities that can be directly explored for the acquisition of new knowledge and competencies. Fortunately, humans have evolved an advanced capacity for observational learning that enables them to expand their knowledge and competencies rapidly through the information conveyed by the rich variety of models. Social modeling shortcuts the learning process. Observational learning is governed by four sub-functions . Attentional processes (→  Attention ) determine what people selectively observe in the profusion of ... log in or subscribe to read full text