Bandura et al. (aishah) [done] Flashcards
What was lacking in the previous study that Bandra was able to complete?
prior studies showed that children imitated the adult model’s behvaiour in the presence of the model but Bandra believed that imitative learning involves the generalisation of imitative responses to new settings where the model is absent, so to test that he did his study.
What behaviour did Bandra’s study focus on?
undesirable, antisocial behaviour named aggression
What is social learning theory?
it states that children develop thru learning from other people around them
What’s the aim of the study?
- to show that if children were passive witnesses to an aggressive display by an adult, they would imitate this behaviour when given the opportunity.
What was the hypothesis?
- Observed aggressive behaviour will be imitated.
- Observed non-aggressive behaviour will be imitated.
- Children are more likely to copy a same-sex model.
- Boys will be more likely to copy aggression than girls.
describe the sample of the study
- 72 kids: 36 boys and 36 girls
- standfort university nursery school
- age range: 37-69 months
- mean age: 52 months
people involved in the study?
- 72 kids
- 2 models: one female and one male
- 1 female experimenter
describe the experimenter design
there were 72 kids who were equally divided into control, aggressive and non-aggressive condition
each condition had a male and female model, and each model had kids of the same sex and opposite sex looking
what kind of model was the control condition exposed to
no model
DV?
imitative learning
were the kids randomly assigned to the 3 conditions?
no
proir to the study the children were matched individually on the basis pf ratings of their aggressive behaviour on 4 5-point scale by the experimenter and nursery school teacher to increase precision and were arranged in triplets
What was the conclusion of this study?
- Observation and imitation cause behaviour to be learnt without reinforcement.
- Observed aggressive behaviours are imitated.
- Observed non-aggressive behaviours are imitated.
- Children are more likely to copy a same-sex model.
- Boys are more likely to copy aggression than girls.
Describe the part of the experiment one that was common for all conditions
- subjects bought in the room
- model waited outside and then was invited to join in on the game
- experimenter escorted the subject to one corner which was structured on the subject’s play area - same table.
- experimenter showed how subjects could design pics with potato prints and were given multicolour, attractive stickers
- experimenter escorted the model to the opposite corner where there was a small table, a chair, a tinker toy set, a mallet, 5 foot inflated Bobo doll
what did the children do in the non aggressive condition?
they assembled the tinker toy set and totally ignored the bobo doll
What did the model do in the aggressive condition
- They put the doll on its side, sat on it and punched it in the nose
- They hit it on the head with a mallet
- They tossed it up in the air and kicked it
- Aggressive verbal comments: “Kick him”, “Sock him”, etc
- Non-aggressive verbal comments: “He sure is a tough fella”, “He keeps coming back for more.”
- These aggressive behaviours were performed in the same way and repeated 3 times over 9 minutes.
give examples of some verbal actions
- sock him in the nose
- hit him down
- throw him in the air
- kick him
name some of the attractive toys in the other room
- locomotive
- cable car
- baby crib
- doll set complete with wardrobe
- doll carriage
why did the experimenter have to be in the room during the experiment 3
- children refused to remain alone
- they would leave before termination of the session
describe the non-imitative toys in the last experiment
- crayons
2 tea set
3 ball
4 three bears
5 trucks
ethical issues in this study
Some children might have been harmed by becoming more aggressive. Children had been mildly annoyed, which could be psychologically distressing.
Children didn’t have the opportunity to consent or withdraw. As the study may have caused distress to the children, this is a key ethical issue. The headteacher was aware, but the parents’ consent is missing.
why and what were the new categories
many didnt perform the complete act thats why new categories were added
for example:
- mallet aggression
- sits on bobo doll
- punches bobo doll
what were the non imitative verbal aggression comments?
- cut him
- shoot the bobo
- knock over people
- horses fighting, biting
- stupid ball
what were the results of the study?
- aggressive condition kids were far more aggressive and their mean score was a lot higher
- 70% of the kids in non-aggressive and control had a score of 0
- 1/3 of the people in aggressive condition repeated the model’s non-aggressive verbal response but none did so in non-aggressive and control
- subs used mallets aggressively towards objects other than Bobo, especially the girls
- treatment conditions did not influence the extent to which subjs engaged in gunplay
is it correct to say that boys are more prone to aggression than girls relating that to this study
it would be partially correct because boys were more physically aggressive but that cannot be said for verbal aggression
what differences were there in the behaviour of control and non aggressive kids
other than the fact control condition was a lot more involved in the mallet aggression, there is no significant difference between the two
describe the subjects behaviour in non aggressive male model
- less physical and verbal aggression
- less mallet aggression
- less non imitative physical and verbal
- less inclined to punch bobo
describe the gender differences
- Boys imitated more physical aggression than girls overall.
- Both boys and girls imitated verbal aggression in similar amounts
- Boys who observed an aggressive Male model exhibited:
1. more physical imitative aggression
2. verbal imitative aggression
3. non-imitative aggression
4. aggressive gun play
compared to girls who observed an aggressive Male model. - Girls who observed an aggressive Female model exhibited more verbal imitative
aggression and non-imitative aggression that the boys who observed an aggressive
Female model. - In general, the Male model had a greater influence on the children’s behaviour than
the female model.
were there demand characteristics in this study
Children were observed behind a one-way mirror so they should have been unaware
and thus act normally in the room, hence reducing demand characteristics.
describe the quantitative and qualitative data of this study
- QUANTITATIVE DATA
Objective record of imitative behaviour
Data was collected immediately only during the experiment, no subsequent follow-up means that long-term effects could not be
measured. - QUALITATIVE DATA
Subjective spontaneous verbal comments that children gave which explained their tendency to copy some behaviours.
describe the 4 scales used to check for the aggression level of kids
1) Physical aggression
2) Verbal aggression
3) Aggression towards inanimate objects
4) Aggression inhibition
describe the 4 scales used to check for the aggression level of kids
1) Physical aggression
2) Verbal aggression
3) Aggression towards inanimate objects
4) Aggression inhibition
Why is there a need for an Aggression Arousal room?
- Watching aggressive behaviours may reduce aggression by the observer, so the experimenter had to create aggression arousal to see if the observer was actually learning.
- Even the non-aggression and control condition children experienced this aggression arousal so that they would be more likely to express aggression and if there was any reduction in aggression due to their conditions, then it could be measured.
