Latent Learning
As part of observational learning
Latent Learning
• Latent learning is when an organism learns
something in its life, but the knowledge is not
immediately expressed.
• It remains dormant, and may not be available to
consciousness, until specific events/experiences
might need this knowledge to be demonstrated.
• Suppose you are camping near
a forest for a vacation, and you
have wandered through it quite
a bit already. You know there is
a tourist merchandise store
somewhere in the forest, and
maybe you have passed it a few
times while wandering around,
but you never really gave
importance to it.
• Now, what would happen if you
heard that free trekking shoes
were being handed out to the first
ten people that passed by the
store? You would probably be at
the store in no time.
• If you did go to the store, you
would have shown a clear example
of latent learning.
• You had learned of the store's
existence and how to get there
days before you heard of the
special gifts, but you never had
the motivation to actually go
there. You only showed what
you learned, when you had a
good reason to do so.
• In latent learning, a new
behaviour is learned, but
such behaviour is not
shown until a reinforcer is
offered.
• A theorist supporting
latent learning would say
you developed a cognitive
map of the forest and the
store's location during
your first days walking
around.
• That is why, some time later, you were able to get
to the store with no difficulties, even though you
had not paid any attention to the store before.
Though you always wandered through the forest
with no defined goal, in your mind, you knew
exactly where you were, meaning you had a
mental representation of places and spatial
directions.
• Another example: if you are in a car going
to school with a friend every day, but
your friend is driving all the time, you
may learn the way to get to school, but
have no reason to demonstrate this
knowledge. However, when you friend
gets sick one day and you have to drive
yourself for the first time, if you can get
to school following the same route you
would go if your friend was driving, then
you have demonstrated latent learning.
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