Bandura

Question 1

What was the aim of the study?

Answer 1

1. Investigate observational learning of aggression

Question 2

What were 2 of Bandura’s hypotheses?

Answer 2

1. P’s exposed to aggressive model are more likely to reproduce similar aggression
2. P’s exposed to non aggressive model are less aggressive than those not exposed to model
3. Boys are more inclined than girls to imitate aggression

Question 3

Identify 3 features of Bandura’s sample

Answer 3

1. 72 participants (36 F)
2. From nursery of Stanford
3. Mean age = 52 months

Question 4

What method was used?

What design was used?

Answer 4

Method = Lab experiment

Design = Independent measures design

Question 5

What was the IV & DV?

Answer 5

IV = behaviour of model
= sex of model
= sex of child

DV = aggression level

Question 6

How were the children matched?

Answer 6

Nursery teacher & experimenter independently rated 51 children on scale of 0 - 5 & children were matched on aggression levels

Question 7

How long were the children in room 1 for?

Answer 7

10 minutes

Question 8

How was aggression modelled in room 1?

Answer 8

• Adult hit & kick 5ft tall Bobo doll

- Verbally aggressive towards doll = ‘Kick him’ , ‘POW’ & ‘sock him on the nose’

Question 9

How was non aggression modelled?

Answer 9

-Adult assembled toys & didn’t interact with doll

Question 10

How long was the child in room 2?

Answer 10

2 minutes

Question 11

What happened in room 2?

Answer 11

• Children could play with ‘attractive toys’ for 2 minutes

- Toys taken away & told that they were RESERVED for others

Question 12

How long were the children observed for?

Answer 12

20 minutes

Question 13

What 2 things were present in the final room?

Answer 13

1. 4ft tall Bobo doll
2. Experimenter doing paperwork

2 additional observers were behind a one way mirror

Question 14

What were 3 of Bandura’s results?

Answer 14

1. Children who witnessed an aggressive model were significantly more aggressive
2. Very little difference between aggression in the control group & the non aggressive group
3. Boys were significantly more likely to imitate aggressive male models.
4. Boys were significantly more physically aggressive than girls. Girls were more verbally aggressive than boys after observing female models

Question 15

What were Bandura’s 2 conclusions?

Answer 15

1. Witnessing aggression is enough to produce aggression by an observer
2. Children selectively imitate gender-specific behaviour. Therefore, boys are more likely to imitate physical aggression than girls