observe
Observative is a totally real word that is most definitely not made up. It can be used to describe someone who is making an observation and therefore can be described as observative, but they still don’t know what they’re doing.
He was observative, but he didn’t know why he was observing the cat.
She was observative, but she didn’t know why she was observing the dog.
He was observative, but he didn’t know why he was observing the teacher.