Bandura 1961 "Bobo doll study" Flashcards
(9 cards)
aim
assessing whether social behaviours (such as aggression) can be acquired through observation and imitation
participants
72 participants from stanford university nursery school aged 3-6
36 boys and 36 gilrs
procedure (taki pre procedure)
The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behaviour on four 5-point rating scales.
It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behavior. The experiment is, therefore, an example of a matched pairs design.
To test the inter-rater reliability of the observers, 51 of the children were rated by two observers independently, and their ratings were compared. These ratings showed a very high-reliability correlation (r = 0.89), which suggested that the observers had a good agreement about the behavior of the children.
IV and DV
A lab experiment was used, in which the independent variable (the type of model) was manipulated in three conditions:
Aggressive model is shown to 24 children
Non-aggressive model is shown to 24 children
No model is shown (control condition) – 24 children
the DV is how they respond to the video
actual procedure
STAGE 1
In the experimental conditions, were individually shown into a room containing toys and played with some potato prints and pictures in a corner for 10 minutes while either:
- being shown a movie of someone abusing a bobo doll (the adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner – they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted “Pow, Boom.”)
- a non agressive model in which somene was playing with the doll in a non agressive manner tylko tak like a normal person
- control group not exposed to any model
STAGE 2:
All the children (including the control group) were subjected to “mild aggression arousal.” Each child was (separately) taken to a room with relatively attractive toys.
As soon as the child started to play with the toys, the experimenter told the child that these were the experimenter’s very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children.
STAGE 3
The next room contained some aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys.
The non-aggressive toys included a tea set, crayons, three bears and plastic farm animals.
The aggressive toys included a mallet and peg board, dart guns, and a 3 foot Bobo doll.
The child was in the room for 20 minutes, and their behaviour was observed and rated though a one-way mirror.
Observations were made at 5-second intervals, therefore, giving 240 response units for each child.
Other behaviours that didn’t imitate that of the model were also recorded e.g., punching the Bobo doll on the nose.
results
Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
conclusion
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person. The findings support Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory.
This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.
strengths
Experiments are the only means by which cause and effect can be established. Thus, it could be demonstrated that the model did have an effect on the child’s subsequent behavior because all variables other than the independent variable are controlled.
It allows for precise control of variables. Many variables were controlled, such as the gender of the model, the time the children observed the model, the behavior of the model, and so on.
Replicable
Weaknesses
low ecological validity.
Also, the model and the child are strangers. This, of course, is quite unlike “normal” modeling, which often takes place within the family.
further criticism of the study is that the demonstrations are measured almost immediately. With such snapshot studies, we cannot discover if such a single exposure can have long-term effects.
unethical. For example, there is the problem of whether or not the children suffered any long-term consequences as a result of the study. Although it is unlikely, we can never be certain.
