Observational and Cognitive Learning
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Social learning theory/ˈsəʊʃl ˈlɜːnɪŋ ˈθɪəri/ | An account of learning through observing others and the consequences of their actions. |
| observation/ɒbzəˈveɪʃn/ | Information obtained by carefully watching, measuring or examining something. |
| Modelling/ˈmɒdəlɪŋ/ | The process; a model is the person observed. |
| model/ˈmɒdl/ | model |
| Vicarious reinforcement/vɪˈkeərɪəs ˌriːɪnˈfɔːsmənt/ | Vicarious reinforcement |
| Insight learning/ˈɪnsaɪt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/ | A solution arriving without association, consequence or a model. |
| Latent learning/ˈleɪtənt ˈlɜːnɪŋ/ | Learning that is acquired without an immediate visible change in performance and becomes apparent later. |
You can learn something you never did and were never rewarded for
- Neither classical nor operant conditioning explains learning without doing.
- Yet people plainly learn by watching, and by thinking.
- This topic adds the two routes conditioning leaves out.
Social learning theory
- Social learning theory 社会学习理论 proposes that learning occurs by observation 观察 and need not involve personal experience.
- Modelling 示范 is the process; a model 榜样 is the person observed.
- Vicarious reinforcement 替代强化 means seeing someone else rewarded changes your own behaviour.
Bandura's four steps of observational learning
Changing your behaviour after seeing someone else rewarded is called...
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Vicarious reinforcement works through observation, not personal consequence.
Select all that belong to social learning theory.
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The Law of Effect belongs to operant conditioning.
Insight learning
- Insight learning 顿悟学习 is a solution arriving without association, consequence or a model.
- It appears suddenly and completely, not by gradual improvement.
- Its existence is a problem for any theory that says all learning is built up trial by trial.
Insight learning is a gradual improvement built up by trial and error.
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It arrives suddenly and completely, without association, consequence or a model.
Latent learning is not slow learning. The learning already happened; what was missing was a reason to show it. An answer that describes it as gradual has described something else.
Learning that happens without reinforcement and is not immediately visible is ____ learning.
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Latent learning already happened; it appears once there is a reason to use it.
Latent learning
- Latent learning 潜伏学习 occurs without reinforcement and is not immediately visible.
- It shows up later, once there is a reason to use it.
- The classic evidence: rats that had explored a maze unrewarded ran it well the moment a reward appeared.
Learn by watching, in four conditions
Observational learning needs all four steps — a learner can attend and remember and still not perform.
Match each signature to its kind of learning.
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Each kind of learning has one signature; identify the signature and the label follows.
Telling the routes apart
- Two stimuli paired → classical. A behaviour and its consequence → operant.
- Watching someone else → observational. A sudden complete solution → insight.
- Knowledge acquired quietly and revealed later → latent.
A student who has watched an older sibling cook for years makes a dish correctly on the first attempt. No practice, no reward, no trial and error — observational learning supplied what conditioning cannot.
Social learning theory adds learning by observation, with modelling and vicarious reinforcement. Insight learning arrives suddenly without association or consequence, and latent learning happens without reinforcement and appears only when there is a reason to use it.
Write from 5 days in a maze with no food
- Rats explore a maze for 5 days with no food. On day 6 food is added and they take a short path.
- Name the learning.
Rats explore a maze for 5 days without food. On day 6, when food is added, they take a short path. What kind of learning is this?
Learning can occur before a reward and show up when the reward makes it useful.
What appeared on day 6?
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The maze learning was hidden until food made it visible. That is latent learning.