Bandura (1965) - Vicarious Reinforcement Bobo Doll Replication Flashcards
What were the 2 aims of Bandura’s (1965) study?
To investigate if children imitate a role model they observe being rewarded (vicarious reinforcement) compared to a role model they observe being punished (vicarious punishment) or no consequence
To investigate the role of personal incentive in imitation, and same/opposite sex role model influence
What were the participants and groups in Bandura’s (1965) study?
66 children, mean age of 51 months - 33 boys and 33 girls enrolled at Stanford University Nursery School
Randomly allocated to either to one of 3 groups with 22 children (11M, 11F):
+ A control group with no model consequence
+ A reward group
A punishment group
What was the methodology of Bandura’s 1965 study? (5 points)
Type: Laboratory experiment
IV:
+ Role model rewarded, role model punished, role model no consequences.
+ Role model is the same sex or opposite sexto the child
+ Positive incentive or no incentive
DV: The number ofverbal and physicalaggressive behaviours and non-imitative aggression the children displayed
What was the procedure in Stage 1 for each of the 3 conditions in Bandura’s (1965) study? (5 points)
Children watched a 5-minute TV film where an aggressive role model (Rocky):
+ Laid down the Bobo doll on the side, sat on it and repeatedly punched its nose (“pow right in the nose. Boom Boom”)
+ Hit the Bobo doll with the mallet (“sockeroo, stay down”)
Model- rewarded condition:
A second male positively rewarded Rocky with candy and a 7Up drink telling him ‘He was a strong champion’
Model-punished condition:
A second male shook his finger at Rocky telling him ‘Hey, there you big bully’ and hit Rocky with a rolled-up magazine
No-consequences:
The same film except with no reinforcement ending
What were the remaining steps of the procedure of Bandura’s (1965) study? (4 points)
Immediately after watching, each child was taken to a test room to play with toys for 10 minutes
2 investigators observed aggressive behaviours through a one-way mirror every 5 seconds
Positive incentive group:
+ The experimenter entered the test room with juice and sticker books
+ Asked the child, “Show me what Rocky did in the TV program“, providing a positive incentive (more juice and sticker books) for each imitated response
What were the results and conclusions of Bandura’s 1965 study? (4 points)
Children are less likely to imitate role models they see being punished
Model Punished: 0.5F
Rewarded: 1.8F
No consequences: 1.8F
No-consequences condition shows that behaviour does not have to be rewarded for it to be imitated
After the Positive Incentive, the imitation increased significantly for girls and boys across all conditions of the model (all>3)
When offered incentives, even children who watched the model being punished showed that they had learned aggressive behaviour
How generalisable is Bandura’s 1965 study? (3 points)
It does not use a fully representative participant sample
Although Bandura has included equal numbers of boys and girls, the age range is not representative of adolescents or adults
Ethnocentric - the 66 children likely were raised in affluent socio-economic backgrounds from a Western, individualistic culture which values autonomy
How reliable is Bandura’s 1965 study? (4 points)
Utilised a standardised experimental procedure, which can be replicated by other researchers for reliability
Same:
+ Standardised script read-aloud for each condition
+ Male and female role models used
+ Systematic timings (repeating aggressive acts 2 times for a total of 10 minutes)
2 judges independently rating each child at 5-second intervals for imitative and non-imitative aggressive behaviour increases the inter-rater reliability
The results are not reliant on the subjective opinion of only 1 researcher
How applicable is Bandura’s 1965 study to real life? (4 points)
The conclusions realised by Bandura have real-life application for children’s learning
No-consequences condition shows that behaviour does not have to be rewarded for it to be imitated
Bandura’s findings could provide evidence for the observation and imitation of celebrity role models in society
It had led to a higher prevalence of eating disorders like AN in the Western World
How internally valid is Bandura’s 1965 study? (4 points)
Bandura failed to account for individual differences with his use of an independent measures design
E.g. Bandura has not accounted for the mood of the children on the day of the experiment or their previous exposure to same-sex role models
If the children were familiar with observing a same-sex role model, like an older sibling playing with toys, this could have influenced the aggressive behaviours observed by Bandura
Not all extraneous variables have been accounted for in Bandura’s study - decreased internal validity
How ecologically valid is Bandura’s 1965 study? (4 points)
Bandura’s laboratory-based study has low ecological validity
Despite the children being familiar with the nursery school, this was not their normal classroom setting
The Bobo doll was a toy that the children had never seen before - their behaviour is subject to demand characteristics
The children may have imitated a behaviour they believed was expected of them, rather than feeling aggressive
How ethical is Bandura’s 1965 study? (4 points)
Bandura gained presumptive consent from parents on behalf of the children
But the children were still distressed and exposed to physical and verbal abuse - could have manifested as a long-term behavioural disorder
Limited evidence that an attempt was made to debrief the children about the purpose of the study
However, the findings have been beneficial to both the scientific community and society in understanding the impact of celebrities and media on children’s learning
