Observational Learning and its Effects on Self-Perceived Competence

Learning by imitation is one of the basic processes through which people start acquiring skills, knowledge and competences. This process relies on a borrowing and reorganising principle embedded in our biological evolution (Sweller and Sweller 2006), since the imitator “borrows” information from the observed individual and combines it with prior knowledge. Research on the Mirror Neuron System has shown that observation of an individual performing an action provides information not only about the nature of the action but also about the individual’s intentions. Observational learning is gaining more and more popularity and the use of modeling examples has proven effective for the acquisition of new skills (Renkl 2014) and the enhancement of learners’ self-perceived competence (Hoogerheide et al. 2016). The observational approach draws on the Model-Observer Similarity Hypothesis, according to which perceived similarity with the model affects learners’ confidence about their ability to perform the same task (Bandura 1994). The present study involves 59 learners enrolled in the last year of a Translation Master’s Degree course. The learners experienced a 3-hour training employing an observational approach to translation. Rasch analysis of data gathered from pre- and post-training questionnaires shows an increase in learners’ self-perceived competence and satisfaction related to translation.