Bandura 1961 Flashcards
What was the aim of the study?
To demonstrate that learning can occur through observation of a model and that imitation can occur in the absence of that model
What were the 4 hypotheses?
- Children shown aggressive models will show more aggressive acts resembling their models than those who are shown no model or a non aggressive model
- Children shown non aggressive models will show less aggressive behaviour than those shown aggressive or no models
- Boys will show more aggression than girls
- Children will copy same sex model behaviour more than opposite sex model
What research method was used?
Laboratory experiment
What design was used?
Matched pairs design
What was the IV?
Whether the child saw an aggressive or non aggressive model
The sex of the model
The sex of the child
What was the DV?
Amount of imitative behaviour and aggression shown by the child in phase 3
How was the DV measured?
Male model
A researcher observed each child through a one way mirror and noted down at 5 second intervals: displays of imitative aggressive responses, partially imitative responses and non aggressive imitative aggressive responses
How were participants matched?
Through a procedure which pre rated them for aggressiveness. They were rated on four five point rating scales by the experimenter and a nursery school teacher. These scales measured the extent to which ppts displayed physical and verbal aggression towards objects. On the basis of the scores, ppts were arranged in triplets and randomly assigned to one of the two experimental groups or the control group
What were the conditions?
Boy and male aggressive model Boy and male non aggressive model Girl and male aggressive model Girl and male non aggressive model Boy and female aggressive model Boy and female non aggressive model Girl and female aggressive model Girl and female non aggressive model Control group (no model)
How many ppts were there?
72 mean age 52 months
Where were the ppts from?
Stanford university nursery school
Phase 1
Children in the experimental conditions were individually taken to a room and sat at a table to play with stickers for 10 mins while:
The aggressive model began playing with a tinker toy set but after a minute turned to the bobo doll and spend the rest of the time physically and verbally aggressive it using a standardised procedure
The non aggressive model played with the tinker toys totally ignoring the bobo doll
The control group did not participate in phase 1
Phase 2
All the children were taken to another room and were exposed to mild aggression. They were allowed to play with some toys but after 2 mins the experimenter took them away and said they were reserved for other children. However, they could play with any toys in the next room
Phase 3
Children were taken individually to a third room which contained some aggressive toys (bobo doll, mallet, guns) and some non aggressive toys (tea set, cars, dolls). They were observed through a one way mirror for 20 minutes whilst observers recorded behaviour:
Imitative aggression
Partially imitative aggression
Non imitative physical and verbal aggression
Non aggressive behaviour
What did observers record?
Imitative aggression
Partially imitative aggression
Non imitative physical and verbal aggression
Non aggressive behaviour
Key findings
Children in the aggressive condition showed more imitation of physical and verbal aggressive behaviour than children in other conditions
Children in the non aggressive condition showed little aggression
Children who saw the same sex model imitated the models behaviour more
Boys were more physically aggressive than girls
Conclusions
Children will imitate aggressive/non aggressive behaviours displayed by adult models even if the model isn’t present
Children can learn through observation and imitation
Boys and girls are likely to learn verbal aggression from a same sex model
Male models have a greater influence on children’s behaviour than female models
Theories on which the study is based
Social learning theory believes that behaviour is leant through positive reinforcement and the imitation of aggressive models
Country
America
