Glossary
Vicarious consequences
What are vicarious consequences?
Vicarious consequences prompt someone to observe what happens to other people when they perform a behavior, including rewards or punishments. BCT Taxonomy v1 labels this technique 16.3.
How the technique is defined
The focus is the consequence for another person. Showing how to perform an action is demonstration; comparing performance is social comparison. A program can include more than one of these components.
Example
A trainee observes a colleague being thanked after helping a customer. The trainee has seen a positive consequence without first performing the action.
A negative example would be a trainee observing a colleague lose a privilege after breaking a rule.
Why it matters
Other people's experience can provide information. To assess the technique, measure what the observer does afterward.