4.1.8 bandura 1963 Flashcards
what is the aim of bandura’s 1963 study?
To see if a filmed or cartoon model would have the same effect as a live model on children’s aggression
state the independent and dependent variable in bandura’s 1963 study
- iv - model (live, filmed, cartoon)
- dependent variable - level of children’s aggression
describe the procedure of bandura’s 1963 study
children were randomly allocated to one of four conditions:
* live aggression (saw adults aggress towards bobo doll)
- filmed realistic aggression (same action on a screen)
- cartoon aggression (saw on TV a model dressed as a black cartoon cat perform same action)
- control group (did not watch aggression)
Children then put in a room with other toys but was told it couldn’t play with them to elicit ‘mild aggression arousal’
Children were then sent to the next room where they could play freely with the toys including the Bobo doll and the ‘weapons’ the models used
The researchers observed the children and their interactions with the Bobo doll
describe the results of bandura’s 1963 study
- the three experimental groups all displayed aggression
- mean total number of aggressive acts was 83 (live), 92 (filmed realistic) and 99 (cartoon)
- differences between conditions not significant, but all differed significantly from control condition (mean total score of 54)
describe the conclusions of bandura’s 1963 study
Exposure to live or filmed aggression increases the likelihood of aggression in response to frustration, even if the aggression is modelled by a cartoon figure
bandura’s 1963 - generalisability
evaluation
P - Low generalisability
E - 48 boys and 48 girls (96 total) drawn from the Stanford Nursery school.
T - The sample is therefore not representative of older children or adults and it likely that the families that use Stanford Nursery are likely to be educated and middle class. This is important as the findings may have been different for children from different socio-economic backgrounds.
bandura’s 1963 - reliability
P - High reliability as the procedure was standardised
E - The adult in the aggressive condition used the same physical aggression towards to the bobo, standardised verbalisations and the same toys being the rooms.
T - This means that the study could be easily replicated and is therefore reliable, a key feature of science.
bandura’s 1963 - application
P - Application to real life
E - Bandura found that mean aggressive acts for each condition was - live (83), filmed (92) and cartoon (99). This highlights how children will imitate the behaviour of role models even if they are a cartoon or are shown in a film
T - This has lead to measures such as the watershed being put in place to protect children by showing mature TV shows after 9pm
bandura’s 1963 - ecological validity
P - Low ecological validity as the study was a lab experiment
E - A child would not be left in a room with an adult that they did not know, it was also unusual that the adult did not interact with the child. Equally, real violence that a child might witness either in the media or as a result of domestic violence, an adult would not usually be violent towards a toy.
T -This means that findings do not represent how we may acquire aggression/beh through certain type of role models in real life
bandura’s 1963 study - ethics
P - A weakness is that the ethical guideline of protection of participants was not upheld
E - Bandura did not protect the children as he made them distressed by making them feel aggressive. The study was unethical as it exposed the children to physical and verbal aggression.
T - Unethical research such as that carried out with Bandura damages the reputation of psychology, meaning participants may be reluctant to take part in future research
