A theory of learning that says people can learn through observation and direct experience, is called social learning theory.
Social learning theory is the based on experimental research in learning and associated mainly with the American psychologist Albert Bandura and his concept of modelling, this theory rejects both the unconscious drives of psychoanalysis and, especially, the rewards and punishments of behaviourism as the sole or even major determinants of personality and social behaviour. Bandura and his colleagues believe that observational learning is crucial to a child 's development.