A safety mechanism for observational learning.
Psychon Bull Rev. 2017-07-27; 25(2): 643-650
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1355-z
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1. Psychon Bull Rev. 2018 Apr;25(2):643-650. doi: 10.3758/s13423-017-1355-z.
A safety mechanism for observational learning.
Badets A(1), Boutin A(2)(3), Michelet T(4)(5)(6).
Author information:
(1)CNRS, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d’Aquitaine (UMR
5287), Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France. .
(2)Unité de Neuroimagerie Fonctionnelle, C.R.I.U.G.M., Montréal, QC, Canada.
(3)Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.
(4)CNRS, Institut de Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d’Aquitaine (UMR
5287), Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(5)Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux,
France.
(6)Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, CNRS, Bordeaux, France.
This empirical article presents the first evidence of a “safety mechanism” based
on an observational-learning paradigm. It is accepted that during observational
learning, a person can use different strategies to learn a motor skill, but it is
unknown whether the learner is able to circumvent the encoding of an uncompleted
observed skill. In this study, participants were tested in a dyadic protocol in
which an observer watched a participant practicing two different motor sequences
during a learning phase. During this phase, one of the two motor sequences was
interrupted by a stop signal that precluded motor learning. The results of the
subsequent retention test revealed that both groups learned the two motor
sequences, but only the physical practice group showed worse performance for the
interrupted sequence. The observers were consequently able to use a safety
strategy to learn both sequences equally. Our findings are discussed in light of
the implications of the action observation network for sequence learning and the
cognitive mechanisms of error-based observation.
DOI: 10.3758/s13423-017-1355-z
PMID: 28752378