Bandura (1965) Influence of Models Reinforcement Contingencies on the Acquisition of Imitative Responses

Question 1

What was the aim of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 1

To investigate whether reinforcement and punishment of an aggressive model would influence the aggression displayed by observers in response to frustration

To investigate the impact of vicarious reinforcement (and punishment) on children imitation of aggression

To see if direct reward to the subject would overrule the effect of punishment or reward of the model

Question 2

What was the research method and design of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 2

Lab experiment using an independent groups design

Question 3

What was the IV and DV of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 3

IV - the observed consequences of the model (whether the model was rewarded or not/punished)

DV - aggression measured in the children

Question 4

What was the sample of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment like?

Answer 4

33 boys and 33 girls aged 42-71 months from the same nursery

Question 5

What was stage 1 of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment like?

Answer 5

Children were randomly allocated to one of three conditions all of which involved watching a 5 minute film of an adult aggressing towards a bobo doll

Question 6

What were the three conditions in Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 6

Model rewarded condition - children watched as a second adult positively reinforced the aggressive behaviour of the model

Model punished condition - children watched as a second adulted punished the aggressive behaviour of the model

Control condition - children didn’t witness any consequences to the models behaviour

Question 7

What was stage 2 of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment like?

Answer 7

Children taken to another room and left to play with bobo doll

Observed by researchers who recorded their behaviour every 5 seconds for 10 minutes

Key difference - all three groups were later offered attractive rewards to aggress towards bobo doll

Question 8

What were the results for model rewarded condition of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 8

Children in the model rewarded condition demonstrated a higher number of imitative aggressive acts

Question 9

What were the results for model punished condition of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 9

Children in the model punished condition showed significantly less aggression than the other two conditions

Question 10

What were the results for the control condition of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 10

Boys displayed more aggressive behaviour compared to girls in the control condition where the model’s aggression didn’t have any consequences

Question 11

What were the results of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 11

Introducing the promise of attractive rewards to aggress towards the bobo doll wiped out the differences, increasing the aggression scores for all groups

Question 12

What were the conclusions for Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 12

Vicarious punishment reduces imitative aggression and vicarious reinforcement increases imitative aggression

Seeing another person receive rewards for their behaviour would motive another to reproduce the same behaviour, seeing another being punished would discourage them to repeat the behaviour

Promise of direct reinforcement is a more powerful influence on aggression

Question 13

What are the strengths of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 13

Reliable

Scientific credibility

Question 14

What are the weaknesses of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 14

Ecological validity

Generalisability

Question 15

Why is reliability a strength of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 15

Tested intra-rater reliability so this means the results are thought to be reliable

Question 16

Why is scientific credibility a strength of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 16

The variables were controlled so only the IV changed in each case

Gives the results scientific credibility and demonstrates causes and effect

Although cultural norms for violence which the children may have already seen were not controlled

Question 17

Why is ecological validity a weakness of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 17

Children were in a very artifical environment

Whether the acts were like real life is unclear and even with a reliable procedure, lack of validity undermines the results

Question 18

Why is generalisability a weakness of Bandura’s Influence of Models experiment?

Answer 18

As with Bandura’s original experiment the children in the study were all from a university nursery

May not be correct to generalise the results to the wider population