What is observational learning and what did Bandura's Bobo doll study show?

Observational learning, also called social learning or modeling, is learning by watching and imitating others without direct reinforcement. Albert Bandura demonstrated this in his 1961 Bobo doll experiment, where children who watched an adult aggressively hit an inflatable Bobo doll were significantly more likely to imitate that aggressive behavior when given the opportunity compared to children who watched a non-aggressive adult. This showed that learning occurs through observation alone, without the learner being directly reinforced.