bandura-content Flashcards
bandura 61 aim
- The study aimed to investigate the mechanisms of Social Learning Theory to see whether things learned in one context would be repeated in different ones.
- The aim of the study was to see if children would copy an adults behaviour to a Bobo doll
- They wanted to see if children are more likely to imitate the same sex adult
- They were looking at whether boys would be more likely to copy the aggressive behaviour or not
bandura 61 sample
72 participants (from the same nursery) were split into equal groups of males and females
* Original aggression levels were measured and split equally between the three groups
bandura 61 procedure
- One group of children saw a non-aggressive model playing with some toys
- An experimental group (aggressive group) watched an adult hit, kick and punch a Bobo doll and saying things like ‘sock em in the nose’
- In the control group they didn’t show any aggressive behaviours
- The children in all groups were taken into another room and started to play with some toys before they were told the toys weren’t for them e.g. a fire truck
- They were taken to another room which included a Bobo doll as well as other aggressive toys
- The children were watched through a one-way mirror (covert observation), and their behaviour recorded (noting down imitative aggression, non-imitative aggression e.g. gun play and non-aggressive behaviour) every 5 seconds for 20 minutes
bandura 61 results
- Watching the aggressive model led to more aggressive acts being copied compared to watching a non- aggressive model
- Boys copied 25.8 aggressive acts when the model was male
- Watching the aggressive model lead to more boys copying the actions than girls. Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. (25.6 Vs 7.2)
- Children who observed non-aggressive models or no models showed fewer aggressive acts. Non- aggressive actually showed less than the no model condition (0.2 & 1.5 Vs 2.0)
- There was little difference in the verbal aggression between boys and girls. (13.7 Vs 12.7)
bandura 63 aim
- Bandura also wanted to test the popular idea that watching filmed aggression might be “cathartic” (making people calmer because it “vents” their aggressive feelings).
bandura 63 sample
- 96 children 48 boys and 48 girls, aged 3-5, recruited from Stanford University Nursery School (an opportunity sample).
bandura 63 procedure
- The basic procedure is the same as Bandura’s original study (in an exam, you would need to describe his original situation AND then the additional/different facts about this study too)
- This makes the study a structured observation in a lab setting. It has a matched pairs design because each child was only in one condition but they had been matched on starting levels of aggression.
- A difference from the original study was that there was no Non-Aggressive Model condition, but an extra condition was added where children watched a film in which the female adult model was dressed as a cartoon cat, while following the script with the Bobo Doll
bandura 63 results
- Control group carried out half as much aggression as the other groups
- When you look into the data, the cartoon produced more non-imitative aggression (100) but less imitative aggression (24) whereas the human models were the other way around.
- No significant difference between live action and ‘cartoon’
- The children were shocked by the aggressive female model, with one boy saying “That ain’t no way for a
lady to behave!” and a girl saying “That girl… was acting just like a man!” - Boys and girls were admiring of the aggressive male role model: one boy said “Al’s a good socker, he
beat up Bobo! I want to sock like Al!” and a girl said “He’s a good fighter, like Daddy!”
bandura 63 conclusion
- Bandura concludes that children will imitate filmed aggression in the same way as live aggressive role models.
- Bandura also concludes that watching filmed violence is NOT cathartic. Instead of becoming less aggressive after watching aggressive film or cartoons, the children showed more aggression
bandura 65 aim
- In this variation the children watched a video of a model exhibit either verbal or physical behaviour towards the BoBo doll and then the role model was reinforced.
- They wanted to see if vicarious reinforcement had an effect on children’s behaviour
Bandura 65 sample
- 33 males and 33 females (all from Stanford Uni again) randomly allocated to 3 groups
bandura 65 procedure
1) Model rewarded for aggressive behaviour
2) Model punished for aggressive behaviour
3) No consequences (no control)
* The children followed the researcher into a room. They were told before that they were going to a ‘surprise playroom’ but would have to wait a little while.
* While they waited they watched TV.
The model arrived and told the Bobo doll to ‘clear the way’ and then showed 4 distinct behaviours
1) Bobo was put on his side and sat on, then punched ‘pow right in the nose, boom boom’. 2) The bobo was hit on
the head with a mallet ‘sockeroo…stay down’. 3) The model kicked the doll about the room ‘fly away’. 4) The model threw rubber balls. When he hit the model would shout ‘bang’
* They were then either rewarded, punished…or nothing in the control
* Model rewarded: a second adult comes in with a drink and some sweets. The adult said the model was ‘a strong champion’ and the aggressive behaviour deserved ‘considerable treats’. Then as he ate another adult made positive comments
* Punished: an adult came in shaking his finger and calling him a big bully ‘you quit picking on that clown, I won’t tolerate it’. The second adult sat on the model and hit him with a rolled up newspaper. The model ran off cowering was threatened more
* Control: no reinforcement
* Following this video the kids were taken into another room with Bobo, a mallet, three balls, a peg board, dart guns and some plastic farm animals and dolls.
* For 10 minutes the children were observed in this room and their behaviour recorded every 5 seconds.
* Two observers monitored the behaviour
bandura 65 results
- The Model Reward condition produced about the same imitation from girls (mean 2.8) and boys (3.5) as the No Consequences condition.
- The Model Punished condition produced much less imitation, especially among the girls (mean 0.5).
- After Positive Incentive, the imitation increased significantly for girls and boys and is very similar across all conditions of the model, with the girls’ scores much closer to the boys’ (all >3).
- Bandura’s original belief that boys would perform more imitated responses than girls was supported
- Younger children copied physical aggression more than verbal aggression
- The same pattern can be seen as in the original study. The mere exposure to a model does not provide sufficient conditions for observational learning to take place. The majority of children didn’t copy the behaviour even though they had seen someone being reinforced. Their previous experience and motivations may have influenced the results.
bandura 65 conclusion
- Bandura concludes that children will be less likely to imitate role models they see being punished. However, the No Consequences condition shows that behaviour doesn’t have to be punished or rewarded for it to be imitated.
- When offered incentives, even children who watched the model being punished show that they had in fact learned the aggressive behaviour.
- Girls are more restrained by the threat of punishment (perhaps due to cultural expectations), but this effect lessens when they are offered Positive Incentive to imitate the behaviour. Again, it shows that behaviour can be learned even when it isn’t acted out.
