Editing Observational learning (section)

==Influential stages and factors==
[[File:Skiing lesson at Flumserberg.jpg|thumbnail|right|Observing skiing from others]]
The stages of observational learning include exposure to the model, acquiring the model's behaviour and accepting it as one's own.

Bandura's [[social cognitive theory|social cognitive learning theory]] states that there are four factors that influence observational learning:<ref>Bandura, Albert. "Observational Learning." Learning and Memory. Ed. John H. Byrne. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 2004. 482-484. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. Document URL http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3407100173&v=2.1&u=cuny_hunter&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w&asid=06f2484b425a0c9f9606dff1b2a86c18</ref>

# '''Attention''': Observers cannot learn unless they pay attention to what's happening around them. This process is influenced by characteristics of the model, such as how much one likes or identifies with the model, and by characteristics of the observer, such as the observer's expectations or level of emotional arousal.
# '''Retention'''/'''Memory:''' Observers must not only recognize the observed behavior but also remember it at some later time. This process depends on the observer's ability to code or structure the information in an easily remembered form or to mentally or physically rehearse the model's actions. 
# '''Initiation'''/'''Motor''': Observers must be physically and/intellectually capable of producing the act. In many cases, the observer possesses the necessary responses. But sometimes, reproducing the model's actions may involve skills the observer has not yet acquired. It is one thing to carefully watch a circus juggler, but it is quite another to go home and repeat those acts. 
# '''Motivation''': The observer must have motivation to recreate the observed behavior.

Bandura clearly distinguishes between learning and performance. Unless motivated, a person does not produce learned behavior. This motivation can come from external reinforcement, such as the experimenter's promise of reward in some of Bandura's studies, or the bribe of a parent. Or it can come from vicarious reinforcement, based on the observation that models are rewarded. High-status models can affect performance through motivation. For example, girls aged 11 to 14 performed better on a motor performance task when they thought it was demonstrated by a high-status cheerleader than by a low-status model.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Weiss | first1 = Maureen R. | last2 = Ebbeck | first2 = Vicki | last3 = Rose | first3 = Debra J. | year = 1992 | title = "Show and tell" in the gymnasium revisited: Developmental differences in modeling and verbal rehearsal effects on motor skill learning and performance | journal = Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport | volume = 63 | issue = 3| pages = 292–301 | doi=10.1080/02701367.1992.10608745| pmid = 1513960 }}</ref>

Some have even added a step between attention and retention involving encoding a behavior.

Observational learning leads to a change in an individual's behavior along three dimensions:
# An individual thinks about a situation in a different way and may have incentive to react to it.
# The change is a result of a person's direct experiences as opposed to being in-born.
# For the most part, the change an individual has made is permanent.<ref>Weiss, Maureen et al. (1998). Observational Learning and the Fearful Child: Influence of Peer Models on Swimming Skill Performance and Psychological Responses. 380-394</ref>