Understanding Imitative Behaviour and Social Learning Theory

Imitative behaviour, also known as observational learning or social learning, is a process where individuals learn new behaviours by observing others (models). Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory is a prominent framework explaining this process. According to this theory, observing the consequences of a model's behaviour influences whether an observer will imitate that behaviour.

Analyzing the Effects of Observation

When a child observes a model, several effects can occur:

• Modelling effect: This is the learning of a completely new behaviour by observing a model. The observer acquires a new skill or response that was not previously in their repertoire.
• Inhibitory effect: This occurs when an observer sees a model being punished for a certain behaviour. This observation can lead the observer to suppress or inhibit a similar behaviour they might have previously learned or considered performing. The punishment serves as a signal to avoid that behaviour.
• Dis-inhibitory effect: This is the opposite of the inhibitory effect. It happens when an observer sees a model being rewarded for a behaviour, especially one that might be considered deviant or previously inhibited for the observer. The reward to the model reduces the observer's inhibitions about performing that same behaviour. It signals that the behaviour is acceptable or even desirable in that context.
• Eliciting effect: This is not strictly imitative learning of a new behaviour. Instead, observing a model's behaviour triggers a response in the observer that is already part of the observer's behavioural repertoire, but perhaps wasn't being performed currently. The model's behaviour acts as a cue or prompt.

Connecting the Scenario to the Effects

The question describes a specific scenario: a child observes a model performing a previously learnt deviant behaviour and the model is rewarded for it. We need to identify which imitative effect this scenario represents.

Let's look at the options in light of our understanding:

• Observing a reward for a behaviour reduces the observer's hesitation or fear of consequences related to that behaviour.
• The behaviour was previously learnt, so it's not necessarily a new behaviour being acquired (ruling out pure Modelling effect, although modelling is the broader context).
• The behaviour is described as 'deviant', suggesting it might be something the child was previously hesitant or inhibited about doing.
• Seeing the model rewarded for this deviant behaviour removes the inhibition the child might have felt.
• This process of reducing inhibition by observing a model being rewarded is precisely the definition of the Dis-inhibitory effect.

In contrast, if the model had been punished for the deviant behaviour, it would lead to an Inhibitory effect, increasing the child's inhibition.

The scenario does not simply trigger an existing, unrelated behaviour (ruling out the Eliciting effect).

Therefore, the imitative behaviour that occurs when a child observes the model engaged in the previously learnt deviant behaviour being rewarded for it is the Dis-inhibitory effect.