Monkey See, Monkey Do

I remember when my parents used to tell me "do what we say, not what we do." I know, bogus, right? Well of course it is! I mean, what kid really does what he's told without mimicking those that are close to him or her just a bit? It's not realistic. What is realistic is the idea behind the Social Learning Theory.

The Social Learning Theory is the idea that people learn by watching what other people do. It states that people learn by watching others, but they may or may not act on what they learn depending on whether or not the behavior is punished or reinforced. If a behavior is reinforced, then it is more likely that the person learning it will perform said behavior. If a behavior is punished then the opposite occurs where the learner will not perform said behavior.

I believe that this Theory is very relevant in our society today, especially as is pertains to television. Television gives everyone out there the opportunity to learn something at any given time, on any given day. For instance, I was watching the Food Network yesterday and learned a different method for cooking a cheeseburger. I tried it myself got great results. I see television as a great learning tool for the future for numerous people. I believe more and more people will use their television as an educational tool in the future because of what we will be able to do with them as technologies become more advanced. For instance, I see touch-screen, Wi-Fi, storage, and many more things that will be incorporated into our televisions making them a useful all in one device that is capable of teaching use anything at anytime. I think they might have a name for it already, without cable of course, called the iPad.

I believe that more and more people will learn from Television going forward, more-so than what they already learn from it today. Whether it be from crafty advertisements, cunning video games, or Rosetta Stone on DVD, people will continue to lean on television to help them not only know how to feel, but also how to apply what they're learning to good/bad habits.

Trip, Out.