bandura 1961 study Flashcards
aim
to see whether aggressive behaviour could be acquired through observation of aggressive role models
more specifically - whether children were more likely to aggress having observed aggression, whether they selectively imitated same-sex models and whether boys were more prone overall to acquiring aggressive behaviour
sample and research method
laboratory experiment using a matched pairs design
36 boys and 36 girls who were aged 3-6 years old and selected from the Stanford university nursery in California
dependant variable
the level of aggression the children displayed
independent variable
- modelling of aggression
- sex of model
- same / different sex model
- observer
procedure
aggressiveness was controlled by ensuring that each group contained equally aggressive children
ratings of the children were determined beforehand by an experimenter who knew the children well and one of the children’s teachers used to match the children
the children were placed in 3s (3 boys or 3 girls so that gender was also controlled) and randomly allocated to 1 of 3 conditions:
* aggression group - observed an aggressive adult model (male / female) punching, kicking and shouting at a large inflatable ‘bobo doll’
* non-aggression -non-aggressive role model assembling mechanical toys
* control group - no model was present while the children were playing
1. the children were brought into a room with an observation window and allowed to play with toys in all conditions
2. the children were then taken to another room where all the children were deliberately frustrated by being show shiny new toys and told they were for other children (if they were not frustrated, they would not have the urge to be aggressive later on)
3. the children were taken into a playroom containing a range of toys including a inflatable bobo doll. their behaviour was observed through a one-way mirror by the male model. a second observer was present for half of the pps to determine inter-rater reliability
how were the behaviours of the children categorised?
- imitative aggression, e.g., sitting on Bobo and behaving aggressively or saying ‘Pow’ (Actions of the model)
- partially imitative, e.g., using a mallet aggressively on toys other than the Bobo doll
- non-imitative aggression, e.g., punching Bobo doll, saying hostile things not said by the model
findings
children who had witnessed the aggressive role model were likely to completely or partially imitate the aggression
the children who had observed non-aggressive behaviour or those who had not observed an adult at all displayed much less aggression
children in the aggressive group were also slightly more likely to engage in non-imitative aggression
boys were more likely to imitate aggression shown by a same-sex model than an opposite sex model and more likely overall
to imitate physical aggression though not verbal aggression
conclusions
social behaviour such as aggression can be acquired by imitation of role models
imitation is more likely when the modelled behaviour is gender-typical and when the model and observer are of the same gender
weakness of environment - lacking ecological validity
a weakness of Bandura’s 1961 study that it was conducted under artificial conditions
the experiment was conducted in a laboratory and the situation in which aggression was measured - playing with a doll - is quite different from the typical situation in which the children might have displayed aggressive behaviour towards a person
therefore, this means that the experimental procedure lacks ecological validity because we cannot be sure to what extent the results can be generalised to setting outside the laboratory
strength of the experimental design
a strength of Bandura’s study is that the design of the experiment had several clever features that reduced the impact of extraneous variables and therefore enhanced the internal validity of the study
Children taking part in each condition were matched for aggression, reducing the impact of individual differences in aggression, a potential extraneous participant variable
the non-aggressive conditions allowed researchers to control for spontaneous aggression
observing the children one at a time controlled for conformity effects
therefore, this is important because the degree of control in the experimental design means that we can be reasonably sure that the observed aggression was the result of imitation of the aggressive model
weakness of sample size - generalisability
one weakness of Bandura’s 1963 study is that the sample of children aged 39-52 months that was used were all young and from the same nursery
this means that the sample may not be representative of other young children who do not come from this nursery because the children from Stanford University nursery are extremely well behaved so will copy the role model as this is what they have been taught to do
therefore, this means that the findings may be unrepresentative of children in the wider population and unable to be generalised to people of different ages and who did not go to Stanford University nursery
application of findings to everyday life
one strength of Bandura’s study is that the findings can be applied to explaining how children can acquire aggressive behaviour from adult models such as parents
as a result of Bandura’s study, psychologists and social workers now have a better understanding of the risks to children’s development posed by violent parents even when that violence is not directed towards the children themselves
in particular the study suggests that boys are especially at risk of imitating physical aggression modelled by adult males such as their fathers
this in turn has important implications in policy around custody and parental contact where fathers have a history of violence
therefore, this means that the application of Bandura’s research demonstrates it’s significance in shaping our thoughts and social policy when it comes to the risks of exposing children to violent adult models
strength - inter-rater reliability
one strength of Bandura’s 1965 study was that there was inter-rater reliability when rating the children’s aggression levels before the study began
when the children were being placed into the groups, the experimenter and the children’s teacher rated each child in terms of aggression levels, both the teacher and experimenter conferred over the values they gave to the children
this gives the study a good level of reliability because in order for the children to be placed in the experimental groups, they had to be rated by more than one person to ensure aggression levels were the same in each group
therefore, this means that we can be certain that the groups both had equal levels of aggression because they were rated by two people who had to agree in order for them to be placed into an experimental group
