Concept

Vicarious Reinforcement

Vicarious reinforcement is a key component of motivation in observational learning. It occurs when an observer's motivation to imitate a model's behavior increases because they have seen the model receive a reward or positive consequence, such as praise, for that behavior. For example, if a child observes a teacher being praised for acting aggressively toward a Bobo doll, the child is more likely to imitate those aggressive actions.

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Updated 2026-04-30

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