Vicarious learning: observing others to educate ourselves

This type of learning based on observation allows us to learn from what others do.

When we set out to learn something, we don't always do it through our direct experience; we often look at what others do.

This is called vicarious learninga phenomenon that, simple as it may seem, when first formulated by the psychologist Albert Bandura was a revolution in the field of behavioral science. Let's see why.

What is vicarious learning?

Technically, vicarious learning is the type of learning that occurs when observing the behavior of other individuals (and the outcomes of those behaviors) causes you to draw a conclusion about how something works and which behaviors are more helpful or more harmful.

In other words, it is a form of self-education that occurs when we look at what others do, not to imitate them just because they do it, as would happen in fashions, but to see what works and what does not.The term "vicarious" comes from a Latin word meaning "to transport", which serves to express that in it, knowledge is a form of self-education that occurs when we look at what others are doing.

The term "vicarious" comes from a Latin word meaning "to transport", which serves to express that knowledge is transported from the observed to the observer.

The neurobiology of observational learning

Vicarious learning exists among members of our species because within the human brain there is a class of nerve cells known as mirror neurons. Although it is not yet well understood how they function, it is believed that these neurons are responsible for making us able to put ourselves in the shoes of others and imagine what it would be like to experience in our own body what they do in our own body..

Mirror neurons are also believed to be responsible for such curious phenomena as yawning contagions or the chameleon effect. However, between the neurobiological and behavioral levels there is a large conceptual and methodological gap, so it is not possible to know exactly how these "micro" processes are translated into behavioral patterns.

Albert Bandura and social learning

The concept of vicarious learning began to take shape with the emergence of Social Learning Theory in the mid-20th century. At that time, the psychological current that had been dominant in the United States, the behaviorism of John Watson and B. F. Skinner, was beginning to take shape. F. Skinner, was beginning to enter into crisis.

The idea that all behavior was the result of a learning process produced by the stimuli one experienced on one's own body and the responses one emitted as a reaction (as proposed, for example, in punishment-based learning) was beginning to be seen as an overly simplistic conception of learning, because according to psychologists of the cognitivist current it cognitive processes such as imagination, beliefs or individual expectations were not taken into account. expectations.

This fact created the breeding ground for Albert Bandura, a psychologist trained in behaviorism, to create something called Social Cognitive Theory. According to this new paradigm, learning could also arise by observing others and seeing the consequences of their actions.

Thus, a cognitive process came into play: the projection of oneself onto the actions of the other.something that requires the use of a type of abstract thinking. The construct of vicarious learning was born, but, in order to demonstrate that his theory served to describe reality, Bandura carried out a series of curious experiments.

However, there is no consensus as to whether or not this "addition" served to complete the behaviorist model of learning, since it also takes into account the perception of the behavior carried out by others, although without appealing to cognitive entities of a substantive nature such as "imagination" or "motivation".

The experiment of the tentetieso and observation

To test his claim that vicarious learning was a fundamental and widely used form of learning, Bandura used a group of children and engaged them in a curious game of observation.

In this experiment the little ones observed a large stiff dummyThe children were watching this toy, the kind of toys that despite being shaken or pushed always return to the upright position. Some children watched as an adult calmly played with this doll, while a separate group of children watched as the adult hit and treated the toy violently.

In the second part of the experiment, the children were filmed while playing with the same doll they had seen before, and it was found that the group of children who had witnessed the violence were much more likely to use the toy than the group of children who had seen the violence. were much more likely to use the same type of aggressive play compared to the other children. compared to the other children.

If the traditional behaviorist model based on operant conditioning explained all forms of learning, this would not have happened, as all children would have had the same possibilities to act peacefully or violently. Spontaneous vicarious learning had been demonstrated.

The social implications of vicarious learning

Bandura's experiment not only served to give force to a psychological theory in academia; it also gave cause for concern about what children observe.

Parents no longer had to worry simply about not acting unfairly toward children by punishing them when it was not their turn or giving them undeserved rewards, but they also had to be seriously committed to giving them a sense of responsibility for their children's behavior. they also had to be seriously committed to setting a good example.. Otherwise, not only could their image suffer, but they could be teaching bad habits without them or their offspring realizing it.

Moreover, based on this idea, the Cultivation Theory was proposed in the 1970s, according to which we internalize beliefs about how the world works based on the fictitious worlds constructed by television and movies.

It was understood that content seen and read through the media could have a strong social impact. Not only can we learn certain things about what works and what doesn't; we are also able to learn and internalize a global picture of what works and what doesn't work. we are also able to learn and internalize an overall picture of what the society in which we live is like. about what the society we live in is like depending on the type of experiences we observe on a regular basis.

Limitations to keep in mind

However, knowing this does not tell us much about what the effects are of, for example, a 10-year-old watching an action/violence movie recommended for 16+.

Vicarious learning is a concept that alludes to a general form of learning, but not to the effects that a particular event has on the behavior of a particular individual. To know this, many variables must be taken into account, and at present this is impossible. It is therefore worth remaining cautious about, for example, the way in which television viewing affects our behavior.

Bibliographical references:

• Aggarwal, J.C (2009). Essentials Of Educational Psychology. Vikas Publishing House.
• Arias Gómez, D.H. (2005) Enseñanza y Aprendizaje de las Ciencias Sociales: Una propuesta didáctica. Bogotá. Cooperativa Editorial Magisterio.
• Bandura, A. (2005). Psychologists and Their Theories for Students. Ed. Kristine Krapp. Detroit: Gale.
• Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall.
• González, D. (2007). Didactics or learning management. Bogotá. Cooperativa Editorial Magisterio.
• Whitebread, D.; Coltman, P.; Jameson, H.; Lander, R. (2009). "Play, cognition and self-regulation: What exactly are children learning when they learn through play?". Educational & Child Psychology. 26 (2): 40-52.