bandura

Question 1

bandura

Answer 1

• Like Zimbardo, researcher at Stanford University and former president of the APA
• 4th most cited Psychologist of all time (after Freud, Skinner and Piaget)
• Interested in how aggressive behaviour develops in children
– Is aggression innate?
– If it is learnt, then how is it learnt?

Question 2

social learning theory

Answer 2

•Extension of behaviourism: 
–	Operant and Classical conditioning 
–	“The prospects for survival would be slim indeed if one could learn only from the consequences of trial and error” (Bandura, 2004: 33) 
–	Behaviourism is too simplistic! 
•Key concepts to be considered: 
–	Imitation 
–	Reinforcement

Question 3

If children witness an aggressive display by an adult, will they imitate this when given the chance?
- predictions

Answer 3

• Specific predictions:

1. “… subjects exposed to aggressive models will reproduce aggressive acts resembling those of the models…”
2. “… the observation of subdued non-aggressive models will have a generalized inhibiting effect on the subject’s subsequent behaviour…”
3. “… subjects will imitate the behaviour of a same-sex model to a greater degree than a model of the opposite sex…”
4. “… boys will be more predisposed than girls towards imitating aggression…”

Question 4

methods

Answer 4

•Participants: 
–	36 boys and 36 girls 
–	Aged between 37 to 69 months (mean 52 months) 
•Viewed adult ‘role models’: 
–	1 adult male 
–	1 adult female

Question 5

pre-test for agression

Answer 5

• Teacher/carer assessment of aggression:
• Children rated on four 5 point scales
– Physical aggression
– Verbal aggression
– Aggression towards inanimate objects
– Aggressive inhibition
• Composite score obtained by adding the result of the four ratings
• Matched aggression levels across groups

Question 6

procedure

Answer 6

• Three stages
–Stage 1) Children see the model behaving
–Stage 2) Child subjected to ‘mild aggression arousal’
–Stage 3) Children’s aggression assessed
• Stage 1) Children see the model behaving
– Children taken individually to the experimental (play) room
•Children’s corner
•Adult model’s corner
– Experimenter left (child in one corner, adult “model” in other)

Question 7

stage 1

Answer 7

Children see the model behaving
• Aggressive model condition:
– Spent 1 minute building tinker toy
– Aggressive to Bobo in distinctive and stylised way
– After 10 minutes the experimenter returned and took the child to another games room

• Non-aggressive model condition
– Model assembled tinker toys in quiet subdued manner, ignoring Bobo doll
• Control condition:
– No adult model

Question 8

stage 2

Answer 8

Child subjected to ‘mild aggression arousal’
– Child Taken to a room with attractive toys
– Allowed to play initially but then stopped
– told “these toys are for other children”

Question 9

stage 3

Answer 9

Children’s aggression assessed 
–Child taken to another (final) play room 
–Variety of non-aggressive toys 
•Stuffed animals 
•Crayons 
–	Variety of aggressive toys 
•Mallet 
•Dart gun 
•3ft Bobo doll

Question 10

observation (stage 3)

Answer 10

– 20 minutes in final room
– Observed through a one-way mirror
– Observations at 5 sec. intervals (240 observations in total)
• Observers looked for three types of imitation:
– Imitative physical aggression
– Imitative verbal aggression
– Partial imitations / related aggression (next slide)
•Also looked for five types of other aggressive behaviour:
– “Mallet aggression”
– Sits on Bobo
– Punches Bobo
– Aggressive gun play
– Other non-imitative physical and verbal aggression

Question 11

summary of findings

Answer 11

• Children who saw the aggressive model made more aggressive acts than those who saw the non-aggressive model
• Boys made more aggressive acts than girls
• Boys in the aggressive condition showed more aggression if the model was male
• Girls in the aggressive condition showed more physical aggression if model was male, but more verbal aggression if model was female

Question 12

discussion

Answer 12

•Bandura commented that sex of model could confuse children:
•On female aggression:
– “Who is that lady. That’s not the way for a lady to behave. Ladies are supposed to act like ladies”
– “You should have seen what that girl did in there. She was just acting like a man. I never saw a girl act like that before. She was punching and fighting but no swearing” 20 Discussion

•Aggression by the male model, on the other hand, was more likely to be seen as appropriate:
•Boys
– “Al’s a good socker, he beat up Bobo. I want to sock like Al.“
•Girls
– “That man is a strong fighter, he punched and punched and he could hit Bobo right down to the floor and if Bobo got up he said, ‘Punch your nose.’ He’s a good fighter like Daddy”. Is aggression innate?

Question 13

problems/implications

Answer 13

•ETHICS (again)
– No informed consent collected from parents
– Children not allowed to withdraw from the research
•Theoretical issues:
– Much of the aggression could have been seen as playfighting, rather than “authentic” aggression. Indeed, some suggest that the children were often playing rather than aggressing.
– Others point out that the experiment seems artificial. Very rarely will an adult demonstrate how to attack something and then allow a child to have a go.
– No focus on how the learning fits in with actual cognitive development 23 Implications
•Media violence and violent video games
•Jamie Bulger case
•The Edlington Attempted Murders