OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING: A TECHNIQUE FOR ELUCIDATING S-R MEDIATION PROCESSES

104 FEMALE UNDERGRADUATES WATCHED NAIVE MODELS (MS) PERFORM AT A VISUAL DISCRIMINATION AVOIDANCE TASK. IN A 2 * 2 DESIGN, TASK APPARATUS FOR M WAS EITHER IN THE SAME ORIENTATION OR ROTATED RELATIVE TO THAT SUBSEQUENTLY USED FOR O, AND THE HAND USED BY M WAS EITHER THE SAME OR DIFFERENT FROM THAT LATER TO BE USED BY O. DATA FOR 96 OS CONFORMED IN NEAR DETAIL TO THE PREDICTION THAT POSITIVE TRANSFER WOULD BE PROPORTIONAL TO THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN VISUAL STIMULI RECEIVED FROM M'S PERFORMANCE AND THOSE LATER TO BE RECIEVED FROM CORRECT PERFORMANCE (PERFORMING STIMULI). IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING PARADIGM MAY BE USEFUL FOR STUDYING THE MEDIATION PROCESSES OF S-R THEORY, SINCE THESE DATA INDICATE THAT MEDIATING STIMULI ARE MORE EFFECTIVE THE MORE THEY APPROXIMATE PERFORMING STIMULI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).