Relationships among age, experience, and observational learning of athletes based on types of model observed

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of observational learning among athletes when they observed themselves (self-model) or their opponents (opponent-model). Furthermore, there was an emphasis on determining the relationships between age, experience, and the functions (i.e., skill, strategy, performance) of observational learning according to the type of model observed.

A total of 158 athletes (male=70, female=88) who competed in different team (N.=83) and individual (N.=75) sports participated in the study. They ranged in age from 17 years to 32 years. Their total years of sport participation ranged from one year to 18 years.

Athletes reported significantly greater use of all three functions of observational learning for the self-model than for the opponent-model. Bivariate correlations revealed years of experience was significantly and positively associated with the skill, self, and performance functions of observational learning for the self-model. In contrast, age was significantly and positively related with the performance function of observational learning for the opponent-model.

The finding provides the first empirical evidence to suggest that model type influences the use of observational learning in athletes. A positive relationship also exists between experience and self-observational learning as well as age and the opponent-performance function of observational learning. The results contribute to the observational learning literature and provide support to the Applied Model for the Use of Observation.