Odden and Rochat studied the role of Social Cognitive Learning Theory – or observational learning – on the development of cultural norms in Samoa.  In particular, they looked at the behavior of line fishing and conceptual understanding of rank and hierarchy. The researchers carried out a longitudinal study of 25 months on 28 children in a single Samoan village.

Samoan culture is very hierarchical – it has a very high power distance index.  This includes the rank of a parent and a child. Social norms limit the amount of time spent between adults and children.  Parents have a largely non-interventionist approach to their children and their learning. Samoan children are largely left to learn things on their own without adults attempting to motivate or organize their learning.

As fishing lines, spears, and nets are limited, children do not participate in fishing with adults. Through both interviews and observations, the researchers noted that young males spend a lot of time watching adult males fish, but there is no direct instruction.  They found that children around 10 years old would borrow the adult’s fishing equipment and experiment on their own without any adult supervision. By age 12, most children were able to fish on their own.

It appears that this is also how they learn the social rules regarding how to behave with people of higher rank – and how the chief system works on the island.  There is no direct instruction about the system until high school, but children observe parents and overhear their conversations about the system. The researchers gave a multiple-choice test of basic knowledge about the chief system to 46 twelve-year-olds and found that the majority of the children had a broad understanding of the concepts and the rituals of their society.

It appears that the cultural norms are not taught directly, but rather learned through active observation by the children of the adults in the community.