Bandura et al. (1961) Flashcards
What 4 things did Bandura predict about the results to his study?
He predicted that:
- Children exposed to aggressive model would reproduce aggressive acts
- Observing non-aggressive adults would lead to less aggression
- Children would imitate behaviour from same-sex models more than opposite-sex
- Boys would show more aggression than girls
Outline the participants used in Bandura’s study.
- 72 children
- From Stanford University nursery
- Ranged from 37 to 69 months old
- Equal number of boys and girls
What experimental design did Bandura use?
He used an independent measures design - participants experienced only one condition to prevent order effects.
What did Bandura do to the children before the main study began?
Children were rated for aggression by being observed (by a teacher and an experimenter) during social interactions at the nursery.
What were the 5-point rating scales measuring?
- Physical aggression
- Verbal aggression
- Aggression towards inanimate objects
- Aggression inhibition (tendency not to show aggression when provoked)
Why did Bandura rate the children on aggression?
So that children with similar aggression ratings could be put into groups of 3, and then randomly allocated to each condition.
What happened during Stage 1 of the procedure?
- Each child taken individually into a room and model was invited in to join the game
- Child taken to table and shown high-interest activities such as potato printing and stickers
- Model then sat at another table with tinker toys, a Bobo doll and a mallet. Child told these are models toys
- In non-aggressive condition, model played with tinker toys, and in aggressive condition, model began playing with tinker toys but then was aggressive towards Bobo doll
- Total time in room was 10minutes
How many conditions were in this study and what were they?
- There were 3 conditions - Aggressive, Non-Aggressive and Control, each with 24 participants
- Equal amount of boys and girls in aggressive and non-aggressive conditions with same sex/opposite sex model.
What happened during the aggression arousal stage of the procedure?
All participants aroused so that any aggression learned from model was displayed - children in non-aggressive condition still did not show aggression
What happened during Stage 2 of the procedure?
-Children aggression aroused by being told some toys were theirs to play with, but once they had settled, the experimenter said they were his best toys and that only the other children could play with them.
What happened during Stage 3 of the procedure?
- In third room was a range of toys including all toys from stage 1
- Delayed imitation was then observed through a one-way mirror using time sampling - every 5 seconds a note was made of behaviours shown on behavioural categories for 20 minutes
Give some examples of physical and verbal aggression observed.
- Imitation of physical aggression - hitting Bobo doll with mallet, kicking Bobo doll
- Imitation of verbal aggression - repeating phrases such as: ‘Sock him’ , ‘Hit him down’ etc
What did Bandura find about his suggestion that children seeing aggressive model would show more aggressive acts?
-Children in aggressive condition imitated most of the models’ physical and verbal behaviours
What did Bandura find about his suggestion that observing non-aggressive adults would lead to less aggression?
- The aggressive group displayed more non-imitative aggression than the non-aggressive group
- Children in the non-aggressive and control conditions displayed very few aggressive behaviours
What did Bandura find about his suggestion that children would imitate behaviour from same-sex models more than opposite-sex?
- Male models had greatest influence
- Female participants verbal aggression was highest with a female model, whilst physical aggression was highest with male model
- Boys’ physical and verbal aggression increased with a male model
