Someone walks over, introduces themselves, and raises their hand out in front of you. How do you know what you’re supposed to do next? The answer comes from observational learning.

If this were the first time you saw this behavior, you wouldn’t have a clue what to do. If you were from an Eastern culture, you might go to bow toward this person; you know what to do because since childhood, you’ve observed many adults shaking hands.

Observational learning is a learning theory in psychology that describes how we learn by watching and imitating others.

In this article, we will look into what observational learning really is and how it helps you learn and grow.

What Is Observational Learning?

Young children learn many of their behaviors and expressions through observation. We pick up things as fundamental as walking, playing, gestures, facial expressions, and body postures via observational learning.

In the 1970s, psychologist Albert Bandura outlined a four-stage process of how observational learning occurs:^[1]

1. Attention: Notice something in the environment.
2. Retention: Recall what was noticed (memory).
3. Reproduction: Copy or mimic what you noticed.
4. Motivation: Get reinforcement or punishment from the environment for completing the behavior (or not).

Neuroscience provides further evidence. Mirror neurons fire when one animal acts and another animal observes, as if the neurons in one brain are mirroring the patterns of another brain.

The result?

You make a funny face at a baby, and the baby starts imitating the behavior by making the same funny face.

What Influences Observational Learning

Observational learning doesn’t always occur, so it’s essential to understand the conditions in place when it does.

When are we more likely to imitate others? It happens when:

• You doubt yourself and your abilities.
• You are confused or in an unfamiliar environment.
• You’re in a position of authority, like a boss, leader, or celebrity.
• Someone is similar to you in some way: interest, age, or social class.
• You see someone getting rewards and punishment for their behaviors.

For example, let’s say four people go out to an upscale restaurant. One person frequents this type of restaurant, but it’s the first time for the other three individuals.

The person who is comfortable in this environment knows what to do: when and where to place the napkin, how the place setting works, and how to communicate with the wait staff. Because she knows what to do in this situation, she’s the authority.

The rest of her company are in an unfamiliar environment, and when we don’t know how to behave, we tend to look around and observe the behavior of others.

Somehow, we know who to observe by picking up subtle cues. Without having to think about it, the rest of the party subconsciously looks around and begins to discern who the “expert” is and what she’s doing. This sort of process frequently happens throughout our development and the rest of our lives.

How Observational Learning Supports Your Personal Development

Observational learning usually occurs subconsciously in social situations. That is, our basic need to belong, or “fit in,” drives us to adapt our behavior to the actions of others.

However, the real power of observational learning comes from making this process active and conscious.

Once you understand how observational learning works, you can choose to apply it in ways that support your personal and professional development.

Modeling

Modeling

is another term for observational learning. Let’s say you want to become an expert presenter. Start by finding a few presenters that you believe are highly skilled and watch what they do.

Pay attention to how they hold themselves, when they pause, and what points they emphasize. Are they using slides, imagery, sounds, and gestures to get their points across?

Modeling the success of others is perhaps the fastest way to elevate your game and make rapid progress in your development.

Shadowing

In the workplace, observational learning is often called shadowing.

By shadowing an experienced employee for a period, you’ll naturally learn how to perform the tasks this person does each day. This process works effectively in sales environments, too.

Apprenticeship

If you study the masters of any field, you quickly learn that they had great teachers or masters from whom they learned.

In Mastery, author Robert Greene points out that those who reach the level of mastery in any field submit to a rigorous apprenticeship to absorb the secret knowledge of those with many years of experience.

Similarly, in The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle highlights that anyone who cultivates talent has a master coach who knows how to break things down and teach things in a way that accelerates the process of learning.

So if there’s any area of your life that you’re seeking mastery in, with whom can you form an apprenticeship?

In this article, you can learn more about apprenticeship at work: What Is an Apprenticeship and What Value Can It Bring to Your Career?

Hijacking Your Behavior

Our brains, in many ways, are like sponges in that we absorb what we observe. While this observational learning can be a powerful tool for our personal growth and development, it can also be a destructive force.

Consider all of the bad behavior we witnessed when we were kids (and still today):

• Poor attitudes
• Nastiness and rudeness
• Passive-aggressive behavior
• Neurotic tendencies
• Addiction
• Deceit and lying
• Greed
• Procrastination
• Negative self-talk

The list goes on. And yes, we observed and absorbed these behavioral patterns too from our parents, teachers, family members, and friends.

We also adopt behavior we observe on television and in the media. Studies show, for example, that teens who watched a lot of sexual content were more likely to start having sex soon after.^[2]

Does this mean that watching violent movies will make you act violently? Not necessarily, but these images are imprinted in our unconscious and often later express themselves under the right conditions.

Here’s the bottom line:

Be very conscious of the media you consume and who you spend your time with. Our minds are like computer hardware, and what we observe is like the software. Choose positive and life-supporting software if you want your brain to mimic it!

5 Ways to Use Observational Learning to Your Advantage

Here are five tips to make observational learning work for you:

1. Be Highly Selective on What, Who, and When You Observe

Remember, observational learning is taking place whether we want it to or not. To harness this powerful force, consciously select who you are observing and modeling and in what context.

For example, if you know someone who’s highly productive in their work, ask to shadow them.

However, keep in mind that this individual may be an entirely different person when they aren’t working, so be mindful of what behavioral patterns you’re absorbing.

2. Pay Attention to the Details

Those who achieve mastery in any area of their lives do so by mastering the fundamentals and then continually improving on more subtle levels. To the inexperienced eye, it’s often difficult to notice what they do differently.

In the case of negotiations, for example, a skilled negotiator knows how and when to disarm the other player. Sometimes these skills express themselves instinctively, so you may pick up on details in behavior the individual doesn’t even know they are doing during observational learning.

3. Maintain a Playful Attitude

Many of us are conditioned to believe that seriousness is a valuable quality for learning. Psychologist Abraham Maslow, however, found that self-actualizing individuals,^[3] or individuals with positive mental health, tend to have a more innocent, playful attitude when they are learning and developing.

Research also shows that we learn up to ten times faster in the areas that interesting to us.^[4] Therefore, stay curious, open, and ready to learn.

4. Rehearse What You Observe in Your Mind

Studies show that rehearsing specific patterns of movement in our mind’s eye can help our brains encode desired actions and behaviors.^[5] Many peak-performance athletes and musicians use this form of creative visualization training.

Visualization practices are extraordinarily powerful when you do it right before bedtime so your subconscious mind can process in the images while you sleep.

5. Don’t Just Observe; Do

To make observational learning stick, you must also do whatever it is you’re observing . Many companies combine shadowing experienced employees with hands-on training to accelerate the learning and development.

The Bottom Line

In the personal development space, observational learning is often called modeling the success of others.

Here are three questions to help you get started right now:

1. What skills and behaviors do you want to learn?
2. Who already possesses these skills and behaviors?
3. How can you start modeling these individuals right away?

Take a look around and identify people and places that can help you get started with purposeful observational learning.

More About Learning

• 6 Common Types of Learners (With Learning Hacks for Each)
• 15 Ways to Cultivate Continuous Learning for a Sharper Brain
• 7 Most Important Cognitive Skills for Fast and Successful Learning

Featured photo credit: Tyler Nix via unsplash.com

If you’ve ever taken a learning style quiz, you know that the idea is to find your most prominent learning style. The question then becomes: what do you do with that information?

A textbook definition of learning styles is:^[1]

“Characteristic cognitive, effective, and psycho-social behaviors that serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with, and respond to the learning environment.”

That’s a fancy way of saying that different individuals interact with their learning environment in different ways. You’ll often see learning styles in conjunction with higher education and other types of cognitive learning courses. The theory is that, if the teacher is aware of the various ways in which people perceive information, they can differentiate the instruction to meet those needs.

To the casual learner, understanding your learning style can help you find the best way to learn new information. There are seven different learning styles, and everybody uses a little of each one (on a sliding scale).

In this article we will talk about how many different learning styles there are (and what they mean), get you to try the learning style quiz, and find out how to use your specific learning style to improve your life.

The 7 Learning Styles

The following is an overview of the various learning styles^[2]:

1. Visual / Spatial

A visual learner thinks in pictures. They prefer having illustrations, pictures, and other types of images to help form a mental image of what they are learning. Visual learners are typically spatial thinkers.

2. Aural / Auditory-Musical

An aural learner learns through music and rhythm. While actual music isn’t necessarily required to reach an aural learner, it certainly is more effective.

3. Verbal / Linguistic

A verbal learner prefers using words, both in speech and in reading. A person with this learning style might prefer a good lecture or textbook to more visual and auditory styles.

4. Physical / Kinesthetic

A physical learner prefers using their body, hands, and sense of touch. A person with this learning style is more of a “hands-on” learner who prefers to learn by doing.

5. Logical / Mathematical

A logical learner prefers information to flow from one thought or idea to the next. A person with this learning style prefers mathematics, logic, and reasoning.

6. Social / Interpersonal

A social learner prefers to learn in groups or through social interaction. A person with this learning style usually prefers group-work and project-based learning.

7. Solitary / Intrapersonal

A solitary learner prefers to work alone. People with this learning style are great at teaching themselves and often prefer self-study and online courses to more traditional learning methods.

Did you see yourself in more than one learning style? If so, then you understand that no one person has just one learning style. Each of the above styles exist in everybody to a certain degree.

If you take a learning style quiz, you might see a certain style emerge as the strongest (and, thus, more preferred). However, that does not mean that person cannot learn in one of the other ways listed.

Learning Styles and the Brain

Learning styles influence and guide the way you learn. They affect the way you internally represent your experiences, remember information, or even dictate the words you choose^[3].

 

Research suggests that each learning style makes use of a different part of the brain. Here is the breakdown for each learning style:

• Visual: Visual learners use the occipital and parietal lobes at the back of the brain.
• Aural: Aural content is mostly processed through the temporal lobes (especially the right temporal lobe for music).
• Verbal: Verbal content is processed through the temporal and frontal lobes.
• Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learning is processed using the cerebellum and the motor cortex.
• Logical: Logical learning is processed through the parietal lobes (specifically using the left side of the brain as it pertains to logical thinking).
• Social: Social learning happens in the frontal and temporal lobes.

How to Use the Learning Style Quiz to Improve Your Life

Perhaps you didn’t realize that people had different learning styles before you read this article. Maybe you already knew about learning styles.

Whatever the case, you can learn a lot about yourself just by taking a short learning styles quiz. But what do you do with the knowledge you get from the results?

Here are some tips:

Visual Learner

If you’re a visual learner, focus on how you can make the material you’re learning more visually appealing^[4].

1. Stay Organized

If a learning style quiz tells you you’re a visual learner, focus on getting your material organized. Your brain will likely feel overwhelmed if your notes are chaotic.

2. Use Color

Try color coding information in order to help your mind visually separate each bit. For example, if you’re studying for a history test, highlight dates in yellow, people in blue, and places in pink. This technique will set important pieces of information off in your mind and make them easier to remember.

3. Watch Videos

Ditch the audio-books and podcasts and either read or watch videos and lectures online. Your strength is found in visual explanation — seeing the information in a book, diagram, or demonstration.

Auditory Learner

If you’re an auditory learner according to your learning style quiz, focus on using your ability to hear to take in information^[5].

1. Limit Distracting Noises

Traffic outside your window, students speaking nearby, or music blaring from a speaker won’t help you while studying. You’re already prone to take in the sounds around you, so if you want to learn something specific, find a quiet place to work where you can limit distracting noises.

2. Read Aloud

If you’ve taken notes in class, try reading them aloud to yourself. You can even create jingles or rhymes to help you remember specific bits of information.

3. Record Lectures

Instead of just simply writing notes as your professor or boss speaks, record the lecture or conversation and listen back later. This will help solidify the information with aural cues. Also, try speaking with classmates or coworkers to help “fill in” the information.

Kinesthetic Learners

Your learning style quiz tells you that you’re a kinesthetic learner. Here are some study tips to help you^[6].

1. Teach Someone

After you’ve studied the target information, try teaching it to someone else. This dynamic activity will help turn on your ability to recall the information.

2. Be Hands-on

Using your hands to create something will help your brain work through specific problems. If you need to remember 20 vocabulary words, try drawing a map and placing the words in specific places. This is related to the idea of a memory palace, which you can learn about here.

Bonus tip: Try chewing gum, as the movement may help activate learning centers in your brain.

3. Take Breaks

As a kinesthetic learner, your mind won’t like being in one static position for very long. Take time to get up and walk around or do another physical activity for a few minutes between study sessions.

Also be aware that most of the learning styles can fit into one of those three categories. You are essentially going to be one of these three types of learning styles paired with an interpersonal or intrapersonal preference. In other words, you either like working with others or you don’t.

If you’re ready to take your learning to the next level with your learning style, check out the video below for some more tips and tricks:

Final Thoughts

Have you taken the learning style quiz yet? If not, scroll down this page a bit and try the quiz now!

If you spend just five to ten minutes on this quiz, it may give you insight into learning styles that will change your life.

More on How to Use the Learning Style Quiz

• The 7 Types of Learners: What Kind of Learner Am I?
• How to Know Which Types of Learning Styles Work for You?

Featured photo credit: Eliabe Costa via unsplash.com