Here is an essay I am writing for psychology. The topic::: 2) How can observational learning be applied to children and/or
adults, and what are three situations where observational learning can have a significant effect on people's behavior;
Now please, if someone can read this and tell me if it makes any sense at all. I will take any critasizim, opinions, ect because thats how i like it. lay it to me like it is.
I believe that much of learning comes from observational learning. Parents, teachers, siblings, and the world around us are all models of how things work. A curious child watches how his mother scoops food off of her plate, and puts it into her mouth. By consistently watching his mother eat in this manner at meal time, he to can begin to eat with a spoon. This is after of course the proper motor skills have been developed.
The way a parent acts around a child when she is angry is a powerful influence. Lets say a mother gets angry because her son hits her. She then yells at her child, hits him, throws things and stomps around. The child observes that that is the way to act when angry. Then they too, are bound to act in this inappropriate way when another child hits them. The child doesnt know any other way to act on an angry feeling because all they have seen were negative reactions to this emotion.
If a child has a positive parent, who handles anger appropriately, then the child will observe and learn that that is the way to act. Lets look at the same situation, but the mother has a different reaction. Her son hits her. She then calmly tells him that hitting is not ok. Not only does the mom have to say this, but she has to do as she says as well. If this is her consistant reaction to a negative behavior, and doesnt even introduce the over-reactive aspect, then the child will be less likely to act in the negative manner. There of course are other factors to consider such as a childs temperament, feelings, perceptions and thoughts.
I recently watched a movie called The secret of the wild child. A little girl spent most of her life in a room. Her parents brought her food and that was pretty much it. She never learned to speak or walk because her parents were never around to show her. She heard no language and was tied down to a chair. Growing up the girl did not observe the human voice, nor did she observe other humans walking on their legs. All she could say were strange, animalistic noises. This lack of human interaction proves that a large majority of learning comes from observation
When authorities found out about this girl, she was taken to a hospital to learn speech and how to walk. She learned mostly by observing the staff, when they taught her words, she could repeat them. After she was taught to walk, she would walk around her world with a curiosity of an infant. The world around her was new. She was only about 9 years old and saw the world for the first time.
I believe that while growing up I suffered from a lack of observational learning. I had strict parents, so up until I was 17 years old I knew of nothing other then school and my home, and the occasional trips to the store. I knew the basics of life: how to speak, walk and eat. But I had no friends, no peers to show me how to act. At school I focused more on my school work rather then the behaviors of my classmates. I learned from my parents that school was for learning academics, not socializing, so that is what I did.
At 17 I was feeling very isolated and depressed, so I found someone on the internet to take me to Seattle. There I observed another kind of life. I saw that there was more to life then sitting at home. I observed the actions of other people and took a look at my self and relized that I didnt know how to act socially appopriate, mainly because I was never in the position to observe.
That was only the beginning. It took a long time for me to learn and observe how to act in public, and I still am learning. I am taking most of my classes online because of the social anxiety that incurs when I am in a classroom setting.
Now I have a baby and I am helping him discover and observe how the world works. I dont want him to be trapped in the same kind of life that I was. Every single day I notice that he imitates things that I have showed him. He wouldnt know simple behaviors and actions otherwise.
A person is more likely to smoke if their parents and other others around them smoke. My parents did not smoke, so neither do I, and I still dont. My son has a lesser chance of smoking because of the fact that I dont smoke. He might have friends that smoke when he is older, but I think that the actions I show my child when he is younger are the most powerful.
Demonstrating positive powerful behavior to a child is a huge influence when growing up. If they see their parents acting calm and apporpriate to a negative stimulus, then they tend to act in that manner as well. As you have seen from the examples I have given, observation is a key tool to learning. With out it, a person doesnt know how to act. Observing negative behaviors, a person will act negatively. Observing positive behaviors then a person will act positive.
adults, and what are three situations where observational learning can have a significant effect on people's behavior;
Now please, if someone can read this and tell me if it makes any sense at all. I will take any critasizim, opinions, ect because thats how i like it. lay it to me like it is.
I believe that much of learning comes from observational learning. Parents, teachers, siblings, and the world around us are all models of how things work. A curious child watches how his mother scoops food off of her plate, and puts it into her mouth. By consistently watching his mother eat in this manner at meal time, he to can begin to eat with a spoon. This is after of course the proper motor skills have been developed.
The way a parent acts around a child when she is angry is a powerful influence. Lets say a mother gets angry because her son hits her. She then yells at her child, hits him, throws things and stomps around. The child observes that that is the way to act when angry. Then they too, are bound to act in this inappropriate way when another child hits them. The child doesnt know any other way to act on an angry feeling because all they have seen were negative reactions to this emotion.
If a child has a positive parent, who handles anger appropriately, then the child will observe and learn that that is the way to act. Lets look at the same situation, but the mother has a different reaction. Her son hits her. She then calmly tells him that hitting is not ok. Not only does the mom have to say this, but she has to do as she says as well. If this is her consistant reaction to a negative behavior, and doesnt even introduce the over-reactive aspect, then the child will be less likely to act in the negative manner. There of course are other factors to consider such as a childs temperament, feelings, perceptions and thoughts.
I recently watched a movie called The secret of the wild child. A little girl spent most of her life in a room. Her parents brought her food and that was pretty much it. She never learned to speak or walk because her parents were never around to show her. She heard no language and was tied down to a chair. Growing up the girl did not observe the human voice, nor did she observe other humans walking on their legs. All she could say were strange, animalistic noises. This lack of human interaction proves that a large majority of learning comes from observation
When authorities found out about this girl, she was taken to a hospital to learn speech and how to walk. She learned mostly by observing the staff, when they taught her words, she could repeat them. After she was taught to walk, she would walk around her world with a curiosity of an infant. The world around her was new. She was only about 9 years old and saw the world for the first time.
I believe that while growing up I suffered from a lack of observational learning. I had strict parents, so up until I was 17 years old I knew of nothing other then school and my home, and the occasional trips to the store. I knew the basics of life: how to speak, walk and eat. But I had no friends, no peers to show me how to act. At school I focused more on my school work rather then the behaviors of my classmates. I learned from my parents that school was for learning academics, not socializing, so that is what I did.
At 17 I was feeling very isolated and depressed, so I found someone on the internet to take me to Seattle. There I observed another kind of life. I saw that there was more to life then sitting at home. I observed the actions of other people and took a look at my self and relized that I didnt know how to act socially appopriate, mainly because I was never in the position to observe.
That was only the beginning. It took a long time for me to learn and observe how to act in public, and I still am learning. I am taking most of my classes online because of the social anxiety that incurs when I am in a classroom setting.
Now I have a baby and I am helping him discover and observe how the world works. I dont want him to be trapped in the same kind of life that I was. Every single day I notice that he imitates things that I have showed him. He wouldnt know simple behaviors and actions otherwise.
A person is more likely to smoke if their parents and other others around them smoke. My parents did not smoke, so neither do I, and I still dont. My son has a lesser chance of smoking because of the fact that I dont smoke. He might have friends that smoke when he is older, but I think that the actions I show my child when he is younger are the most powerful.
Demonstrating positive powerful behavior to a child is a huge influence when growing up. If they see their parents acting calm and apporpriate to a negative stimulus, then they tend to act in that manner as well. As you have seen from the examples I have given, observation is a key tool to learning. With out it, a person doesnt know how to act. Observing negative behaviors, a person will act negatively. Observing positive behaviors then a person will act positive.
The bit about the girl is missing some information. If the girl is the one who i think you are referring to, she never fully adapted, never learned to speak that well and spent the rest of her life in assisted living - she remained a "woman child" I not sure, but she may have always had difficulty understanding our culture's ideas about right and wrong. . . This is interesting because it seems to indicate that there is a narrow window of opportunity for the development of language and culture aquisition - this, i imagine, corresponds to some particular period of brain development. This might also be the time period in which children learn the most basic aspects of their culture's morality (including the do not hit mom part). bad influence or the lack of any observational learning at a young age might do more damage than it would later on in life.
you might also want to mention the possible influence of the media on a developing child. From what i remember, the evidence for the media's influence on a child isn't as strong as is commonly believed, but it might work to undo behavior patterns learned at home,