What is vicarious learning? Definition, examples and tips

What is vicarious learning?

Humans naturally learn through imitation

You've probably heard the phrase 'monkey see, monkey do'. Growing up, we're often warned not to submit to 'peer pressure' or mindlessly copy our peers. But why did the grown-ups need to tell us this in the first place?

Like most mammals, humans naturally learn through imitation. Humans are also uniquely well-suited to learning from their peers, and with the right social context, they can learn well through imitation.

Vicarious learning plays on our built-in social nature and makes it easier to retain information. It involves an observational learning process under specific conditions.

Read on to learn more about vicarious learning and its requirements. Find out how you can apply it in your training!

How vicarious experience works

Instead of giving learners a chance to experience something directly, vicarious learners watch. In many cases, this approach is simpler and easier to conduct for a large number of learners.

Imagine you want to teach a group of employees how to use a new software for their jobs. You can:

1. Show everyone how to use the software separately.
2. Make a presentation they can watch and scrutinize.

The second option involves vicarious learning.

To provide your employees with opportunities to gain vicarious experience:

1. Have one employee try to use the new software for a specific task.
2. Have other employees observe.
3. Get employees to note down any mistakes or areas for potential improvement.

Thus, the employees are directed to observe, analyze, and reproduce new processes. This is how they gain vicarious experience. They don’t use the software themselves during the lesson, but they learn and imitate vicariously. This well-understood method is one of the most robust ways for online learners to acquire new information.

Is vicarious learning observational learning?

Vicarious learning is not the same as observational learning

Vicarious learning is not the same as observational learning.

What vicarious and observational learning have in common is they involve learning through the experiences of others.

Observational learning differs from vicarious learning in that it considers the consequences of an observed action. Observational learning is a more direct and clinical approach to imitating behavior, while vicarious learning is less clinical but more focused on studying the consequences of observed behavior.

Is vicarious learning the same as conditioning?

The other teaching method that vicarious learning is sometimes confused withl but differs from, is conditioning.

Conditioning is giving a stimulus (a positive signal) to evoke a specific response. You probably know much about conditioning if you’ve ever trained a dog. You were also probably conditioned yourself, because everyone goes through conditioning as part of their development!

Vicarious learning and vicarious conditioning both address different aspects of teaching methods. However, vicarious learning is focused on learning by observing and scrutinizing.

Minimum requirements for vicarious learning

For an instructional session to be considered vicarious learning, it needs to meet a few basic requirements:

• Vicarious learning needs a format for learners to observe. This is usually a video or live demonstration they can see.
• Learners need to be able to use their senses to understand at least one other person’s experiences.
• They need to be able to note down what is going on in real time.
• They need to formally scrutinize the processes they are observing.

The specific details of how learners do each of the above can change. Vicarious learning is an especially indirect but effective method. That’s because learners are put in a position to think critically in a situation requiring the kind of knowledge you want to teach them.

Vicarious learning benefits

Incorporating vicarious learning into your training or coaching processes is a good idea. It’s a straightforward methodology for skills acquisition in online learning environments.

Easy-to-understand content

Vicarious learning provides a safe and easily understandable space for learners to gain knowledge and test their understanding. When you use real-world examples and force learners to get involved by scrutinizing what they see, they have a simple way to gain more benefits.

The mistake-modeling opportunities that vicarious learning offers help them intimately understand how mistakes are made and how to avoid them. But in the end, it’s a relatively low-pressure situation.

More reward for less risk

Vicarious learning enables learners at low levels to gain experience without direct participation

This type of learning enables learners at low levels to gain experience without direct participation. So, learners can learn important safety information from observing dangerous situations without being at risk themselves. In some cases, this presents a powerful way to press the importance of safety practices.

Of course, many workplace use cases don't involve physical risk. In these cases, vicarious learning serves as a great stepping stone, providing crucial knowledge without risking health, safety, or equipment.

Better knowledge retention

Vicarious learners are deeply involved with their training by observing, scrutinizing, and mimicking. They can observe and absorb highly contextual knowledge in a way that results in better retention.

Vicarious learning involves seeing one task from every possible angle (the observer, the judge, and the doer). Understanding every aspect of the task is only possible when you see them from each perspective. This is the best way to prepare someone who hasn’t done the task themself yet.

It’s impossible to replace real experience with something else. However, vicarious learning is the best way to ensure the knowledge to get real experience is retained.

Examples of vicarious learning

Vicarious learning has been a part of your day-to-day life, on and off, throughout your life. If you’ve ever watched a demonstration of a skill on YouTube or at school, you’ve completed some vicarious learning tasks!

Of course, if you want to create vicarious learning situations for your participants, you will need a more specific format. Here are some examples of vicarious learning and tips for making them the most effective learning experiences.

Live demonstrations

If you want to teach virtual learners vicariously, a live demonstration would be the classic way. That’s because, with vicarious learning, your learners' requirements would be similar. They wouldn’t be participating in the action themselves; they would be watching, learning, and scrutinizing.

Doing the process live has some risks, but it can be suitable for specific situations.

For example, imagine training learners on new software with an experienced instructor. The instructor could share their screen, letting the group see what they’re doing live. Somebody would instruct learners to watch and learn while applying their knowledge. The instructor could also choose a less optimal process, testing to see if the class can catch their mistakes and make suggestions.

Live demonstrations by fellow learners can also provide a much more dynamic and interesting vicarious learning experience. After an instructional session and short demonstration, a learner would be invited to take the basic steps to complete a project. This is the part where students would be able to:

• Use the knowledge they gained from the instructor’s demonstration.
• See one of their peers attempt the same kind of task they will soon be required to complete.
• Learn how to navigate the mistakes and complexities the tasks entail.
• Troubleshoot the issues they see arise as their peer completes the tasks.
• Internalize the process of using the software without hands-on experience.

Video learning

Watching an educational video is the most common example of vicarious learning

Watching an educational video is the most common example of vicarious learning. Pre-recorded instructional content can also be created to offer new learning experiences.

One great example would be sales training. A sales team would watch a video of a real or acted-out interaction with a customer. The sales expert in the video would engage in the tactics that the sales team members are being taught. So, the sales team can see how an expert makes sales by observing their behavior, speech, and other interpersonal skills.

There are unlimited examples of using video learning for vicarious learning purposes. The popularity of virtual learning and virtual conference rooms has made vicarious learning for many different hard and soft skills more approachable.

Think of all the corporate:

• How-to videos.
• Webinars.
• Panel discussions.

How to implement vicarious learning

The good news is that vicarious learning is easy-to-use. Once you understand the fundamental steps that we’ve covered, you need the right tools.

One of the best formats to introduce vicarious learning is with a learning management system (LMS). Using regular, easy-to-navigate LMS interfaces, you can:

• Offer step-by-step tutorials.
• Draft scenarios you can shoot to demonstrate what you want your learners to understand.
• Upload your pre-recorded demonstrations.
• Enable peer troubleshooting or ask learners to complete classwork on how troubleshooting would work.
• Assign peer review tasks.

Easy LMS makes it easy to upload your pre-recorded demonstrations or tutorials to an online course!

Useful resources

• Valamis
• EducateMe
• Samelane
• Atana
• Vicarious learning in organizations