Author: ark5676

Observational Learning

Observational Learning

Observational Learning is learning through the observation of others, without the need of direct experience. Mirror neurons, located in the brain, are thought to activate observational learning by firing both when an animal acts and observes the actions of another. Four elements, or necessary conditions, of observational learning include: attention, memory, imitation, and motivation. Attention entails noticing something, memory requires remembering it, imitation involves being able to do it, and motivation necessitates having the desire to do so. American psychologist, Albert Bandura, stressed the importance of observational learning because he believed individuals should learn from a behavior rather than just imitating it. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiments found evidence of observational learning because the children who participated in the study imitated the behavior they witnessed. 

My Experience

I experienced observational learning when I learned the basics of driving a car by watching my dad drive. One particular day, I observed as my dad turned the key to start the car’s engine, then put his right foot on the gas pedal, and his two hands across from each other on the steering wheel. He began to drive to my grandparent’s house. On the way there, he turned on his blinkers and looked in the rearview mirrors to switch lanes on the highway. Halfway through the drive, it began to rain so I watched him turn on the car’s headlights and windshield wipers. He drove along until we finally reached my grandparent’s house (he stopped in the driveway and put the car in park). 

A few days later, when I got in the driver’s seat, I instantly knew how to start the car and begin driving. I remembered how to correctly position my hands on the steering wheel and switch lanes from watching my dad do so. I even remembered how to turn on the headlights and windshield wipers when it began raining from watching them get switched on just a few days earlier. My dad watched in the passenger’s seat as I managed the entire drive and even parked the car (although the drive was not exactly smooth). That day I demonstrated how much I had learned from simply watching my dad previously drive to my grandparent’s house. 

Connection to Observational Learning

This experience of mine connects to observational learning because I demonstrated all four conditions that this method of learning entails: attention, memory, imitation, and motivation. First, I paid attention to my dad while he was driving then I remembered his movements and the switches he turned on when it was my turn to drive. The day I drove on my own (with my dad’s guidance), I imitated my dad’s prior movements and demonstrated motivation by driving all the way to the desired destination. From that day on, I kept learning more about how to drive through observation before driving more often (with my dad’s guidance) until I received my very own driver’s license.  

Image Citation:

“Social Learning.” Tutorials Point, https://www.tutorialspoint.com/social_learning/bobo_doll_experiment.htm.

Flashbulb Memory

Flashbulb Memory

A type of autobiographical memory, flashbulb memories record atypical and uncommon events with strong emotional associations. Therefore, the events that comprise these memories are often stressful, shocking or surprising. Like a camera’s flash, flashbulb memories are registered in the brain and reflect an exceptionally clear snapshot in time. The amygdala is believed to store these vivid and detailed memories as its neurological function is to encode, retrieve, and store episodic memories associated with emotional responses. The hippocampus is also believed to help foster flashbulb memories in the brain since its neurological role is to store long-term memories and regulate emotion. Both the amygdala and hippocampus are a part of the brain’s limbic system, which modulates emotion and memory. 

My Experience

I experienced a flashbulb memory when I visited my family’s damaged beach house in Long Beach Island, New Jersey, following the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. A few days after the superstorm hit the Jersey Shore, my parents broke the news to my sister and I that our beach house most likely sustained damage. In order to inspect this potential damage, my immediate family (including my mom, dad, sister and grandparents) and I decided to drive down to our beach house. Upon entering the island, I remember witnessing all the destruction the storm caused. Sand and debris were piled up on the streets (making it difficult to drive) and restaurants, storefronts and homes were flooded, damaged and even destroyed.

I noticed our street sustained some significant damage as the house next to ours was leveled and others were slightly wrecked. In particular, I vividly remember the damage our beach house suffered. Upon pulling up to the house, I recall witnessing the exterior with damaged siding and a few broken windows. I also very clearly remember opening the front door and seeing sand and bits of seaweed piled up on the floor, slight cracking on the walls, and water-damage on the living room furniture. After witnessing this, I remember my dad and grandpa immediately springing to clean up outside while my grandma cried and my mom consoled her. My sister and I took in all aspects of the dysfunctional scene before starting to clean up in the kitchen. During this experience, we all felt devastated by what we saw, but we also felt grateful that our house did not sustain more damage, as others unfortunately did. 

Connection to Flashbulb Memories

This memory is specifically a flashbulb memory because it autobiographically recollects a vivid snapshot of a personal experience (with my beach house) as it connects to Hurricane Sandy. This important event, like the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was shocking, stressful, and had widespread implications, such as mass destruction. Furthermore, this event fits that of a flashbulb memory since it was highly emotional. All my family members feel a strong connection and love for our beach house so it made the event that much more devastating. This emotional distress was especially demonstrated by my grandma, who cried after viewing the destruction our house endured. Not to mention, my memory contains all the fundamental elements of a flashbulb memory, such as who informed me of the event, where the event took place, how different people reacted to the event (including my personal involvement), how myself and others felt, as well as the aftermath of the event. Overall, even though it is inevitable that some details of strong flashbulb memories become less accurate over time, I will always remember the general sight of my damaged beach house and how I felt during the event (sad yet relieved). 

Image citation:

Patel, Shivam. “Cognitive Psychology.” Cognitive Psychology.

Perception Due to Top-down Processing

Sensation & Perception

Sensation and perception describe two linked processes fundamental to sensing and perceiving the world around us. Sensation allows our brains to detect physical energy from the environment via our five senses before converting this information, or stimuli, into neural signals. These sensations are then selected, organized and interpreted through the process of perception. 

Perception: Top-down Processing

Perception can be divided into two types of processing: top-down processing and bottom-up processing. Top-down processing begins with one’s prior knowledge and expectations while bottom-up processing begins with sensory information that is integrated by the brain. Unlike bottom-down processing, top-down processing displays higher-level cognition by enabling us to draw on context clues and pattern recognition to help us interpret sensory information and generate a response. In class, we learned about top-down processing upon discovering that we could read and understand a text’s jumbled-up words as long as each word’s first and last letters remained in tact.

My Experience 

I experienced top-down processing while I was driving home from a friend’s house one night this summer. Before this night, I had only driven home from this location once during the bright daytime. Not to mention, my phone was low on battery this particular night so I could not use GPS for navigation. 

When it was time to drive home that August night, I recalled that I would have to take some backroads before getting onto the highway. With this in mind, I navigated the backroads by using my prior knowledge of what the roads and their distinctive landmarks looked like. Therefore, I was able to successfully remember the curvature of the roads and the appearance of the surrounding neighborhood’s houses and greenery. 

Once I finally reached the highway, I drove along for awhile until I needed to find my exit to get off at. Unsure of the right one to take, I was forced to rely on the unlit road signs. The darkness made it increasingly difficult to see where I was going so I had to strain my eyes to read a road sign near a familiar-looking turn. Thankfully, I was able to make out some of the letters on the sign and piece together that the words spelled out my hometown. After deciphering the words on this sign and taking the turn, I stayed on one straight path until I arrived home. 

Connection to Top-down Processing

This experience of mine connects to top-down processing because it began with my thoughts and flowed down to my senses. My prior knowledge regarding the appearance of the backroads near my friend’s house successfully allowed me to navigate and reach the highway. Then while driving on the highway, I was able to visually interpret the dark road sign and use my hands to turn the steering wheel of the car in the right direction. This demonstrated that the use of top-down processing enabled me to not only grasp and comprehend the unlit words of the road sign based on the few letters that I could discern, but also translate this information to my senses. Overall, my understanding as a result of top-down processing involved interpreting context clues and recognizing familiar patterns in language.

 

Image Citation:

“Study.com.” Study.com, https://study.com/academy/lesson/top-down-processing-examples-definition-quiz.html.