Observing as a Fundamental Psychological Activity

It is well known that a great deal of behavior develops through the observation of the behavior of others. Indeed, observing seems to be fundamental to much of our everyday interactions with the world. Still, the exact means by which observing something in the past impacts our behavior in the future presents a number of conceptual challenges for behavior analysts. The present paper describes an alternative conceptualization of observational learning. Importantly, this alternative analysis is related to a number of theoretical issues in behavior analysis, including the development of derived stimulus relations, the naming hypothesis, and the widely popular mindfulness-based behavioral interventions.