Module 10 Post 1

Question: I believe that I pretty much understood this entire chapter. However, I do have a strange (may not be the right word choice) question about live models and symbolic models. I know that symbolic models come through various media such as books, movies, or the TV. Can it be possible for a child to attempt to imitate a model that isn’t real (such as a cartoon or animation of some form)? I know that there are those 4 characteristics of models that increase the likelihood the behaviors will be observed and imitated. I’m just curious as to whether a child may attempt to imitate one of those characters on a Nickelodeon or Disney TV show.

Models: A model can be anyone in society really. The book talks about live models or symbolic models. A live model is anyone we may observe directly, such as a friend, a parent, sibling, peer, or teacher. The symbolic model is someone who is not in our same environment, but can be observed through various types of media, such as books, movies, and TV. There are four characteristics of models that cause an increase in the likelihood that their behavior will be observed. These characteristics include relevance (the models behavior must be interesting to the behavior of the observing individual), competence (the model must be seen as competent in the behavior being learned), high status (the behavior of the model is more likely to be imitated if the model is someone with high status, and finally gender-appropriateness (a model is more likely to be someone of the same sex as the individual observing, because then the behavior is likely to be gender-appropriate). The model can support learning by making the information they are teaching interesting or relevant to the observer. Learning not only occurs through direct experiences, but it also occurs through observation. When a teacher or parents wants to teach a child something, they often will demonstrate something and have the child imitate the behavior. For the child to be able to imitate the behavior, the child needs to meet several conditions, such as attention (the child must be paying attention to the model), retention (the child must be able to remember the behavior being preformed), production (the child must be able to produce the behavior), and finally motivation (the child must have the motivation to perform the behavior in the future). There are also environmental conditions that affect whether or not a behavior will be imitated. If a behavior is imitated and has been reinforced, then it’s called vicarious reinforcement, and the model will perform the behavior more frequently. A behavior will not be imitated as frequently if the behavior has been punished, called vicarious punishment. If a model is not punished for a behavior that is typically frowned upon, then the model will continue to perform that behavior.

Models in my life: I would say that there are numerous models that have had some sort of impact on the behavior that I performed, including teachers, my parents, and my peers. I am going to go ahead and claim that celebrities and characters on the TV did not affect my behavior growing up because we weren’t allowed to watch much television. I would say that I looked up to my dad more than my mom, and worked hard to imitate his behavior (with sports especially). There are a few teachers that stand out as being teachers that really affected me as a student, and thus I paid them more attention and gave them more respect. These are the teachers who constantly worked to be good role models for the students, and worked so hard to not model any inappropriate behaviors to the students. Yes, the teachers had high status because of their authority as an adult and a teacher, but they also were very competent in their subject matter and knew how to teach lessons in age-appropriate ways. My parents instilled in me the self-discipline needed to be a good student. While I didn’t believe I was the most intelligent student in the class, I did have enough self-efficacy and self-regulation to be a good and committed student. Because of the expectations my parents put on me to do well in school, I was able to internalize the expectation and use it to push myself to do well. I saw how my parents were able to become successful because of the ways in which they behaved in school. While I did not directly observe their behavior in school, in some ways I have imitated their behavior in attempts to become successful. My parents encouraged me throughout schooling (giving verbal persuasion), giving me the motivation to be successful and believe in my abilities. As a student, I put in a lot of effort into my school work, and always strive to succeed. If I don’t do well on an assignment, I’ll be determined to do better the next time. I think I’ve already written too much but there are a few teachers (female, French teachers) who have inspired me to pursue a career in French education. You could say that I’m really imitating their behavior.