Acquisition

Acquisition through observational learning is something that as a dance teacher I see and use when I teach in the text acquisition is broken down into factors that lead to actual learning though acquisition.  The factors are paying attention to a model’s behavior as well as the consequences of the observed behavior.  As a teacher (I teach dance) I see children do this often they not only observe mine and my coworkers behaviors but they also observe each others behaviors and the consequences that may come with those behaviors.  If one child does some thing and is then praised by a teacher for it other children very often will follow suit and behave like the child who was being praised. 

Another factor mentioned in the book is “whether the observer receives reinforcement for  the behavior of attending to a model” (Powell, 2013) the text mentions that this is used often by teachers not only do teachers draw attention to what ever they are hoping for students to be observing but also they reinforce when students do pay attention with praise helping the students to continue the behaviors they are observing and leaning about.  As a dance teacher observation is a very big tool for me because most of my teaching is done though physical observation so I often use both prompting and physical demonstration which are mentioned in the test when I am teaching a group of students a dance. 

Another factor brought up in the book on whether or not one will attend to a model and learn from it is whether or not the observer has the skill level to make it beneficial for them to observe a models behavior and believe they can learn from it. If I started off a dance class with a routine that was very complex but exciting to watch the students instead of believing they can then learn from observing it if they only have limited dance skills may turn them off from wanting to learn a dance where as if I teach a dance broken down in to small sections and easier steps that the students can observe and pickup quickly they will want to continue leaning dances. 

  The last thing brought up in the chapter is the personal characteristics of the model and how they influence an observer in whetter or not they will attend the models behavior.  generally people model behaviors of their peers or of people they look up to and respect.  This section of acquisition struck me more as someone who continues to learn dances from choreographers and how when I work with a choreographer who I know has be a performer on Broadway I am much more likely to give more of my attention to them then to a choreographer who really is a director who has stepped in as a choreographer. 

It’s amazing how observational learning translates into behaviors for almost everyone.  we are continuously observing others and learning behaviors from them. 

Powell, R. A., Honey, P. L., & Symbaluk, D. G., (2013). Introduction to learning and behavior. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.