A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY OF OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING MODES

72 preschoolers and 72 school children observed the original discrimination of nonreversal shift (NRS) followed by 14 NRS trials by themselves. The observational trials were 10 or 30 in each age group. The correct (_??_) or incorrect (×) responses on the 1st (unchanged pair) and the 2nd (changed pair) trials of NRS were mainly measured. In preschoolers, both dependent observational-learning mode (_??_-× responses: DOL) and independent observational-learning mode (_??_-_??_ and ×-×: IOL) were found, but no observational-trial effects on the modes were found. In school children, DOL occurred significantly more than IOL in both groups, and the observational-trial effect was also found. Subproblem analyses suggested that the _??_-× responses were indeed the “dependent” mode rather than the “independent” one.