Bandura et al- Transmission of aggression through imitation Flashcards
What is social learning theory
Banduras was interested in examining social learning theory which is the belief that we are able to learn through observation and imitation of a role model who we identify with.
Previous research done by Banduras and Hudson
Previous research done by Banduras and Hudson found that children will readily initiate behaviour demonstrated by an adult role model if the role model remains in the situation.
How this influenced Banduras to research the influence of role models further, when the model is absent.
This prior research failed to assess how the behaviour which has been displayed by a model can affect the individual on the absence of that specific model. Banduras wanted to assess the experimentally to see if the level of aggression imitated by children was due to absence of the model.
Researchers Aim
To demonstrate that learning can occur through mere observation of learned behaviour can occur in the absence of a model
Hypothesis
-Children shown aggressive models will show significantly more imitative aggressive acts resembling those of their models than those shown non aggressive or no models.
-Boys will show more imitative aggression than girls
-Children with imitate same sex model behaviour to a greater degree than opposite sex behaviour.
Research method
Laboratory experiment using a matched participants and independent measures
Observation to collect data for aggressive models
Independent variables
-Sex of the child (male/female)
-Sex of the model (male/female)
-The behaviour of the model children were exposed to (aggressive/non aggressive)
Dependant variable
The level of aggressive behaviour shown by children when observed in room 3
Sample
Children attending Stanford University Nursery school.
72 children in total aged 3-5
Sampling method
Opportunity sample- children who are readily available, no mention of parental consent.
Matching procedure (1)
For a control, children were pre rated for their levels of aggression by their nursery teacher, and the female experimenter who observed them in the playground rated aggression on a 5-point-scale
Matching participants (2)
4 scales: physical aggression, verbal aggression, aggression towards inanimate objects and aggression inhibition
Matching participants (3)
Children were arranged into triplets and assigned at random to the three different model conditions.
Phase 1: Role Model
Children in the control condition didn’t experience the first phase.
Other conditions left into a room with toys and the Bobo doll. After one minute in the room, the role model turned to the bobo doll and was aggressive or non aggressive to the bobo doll for the rest of the time.
This routine was repeated three times.
Phase 2: Arousal
All 72 children were in this room with attractive toys such as a colourful spinner top.
The experimenter explained the toys were for the children to play with but after the child began to play with the toys for two minutes, the toys were taken away.
Phase 3: Observation
This new room contained various toys, both aggressive (guns) and non aggressive (crayons and paper)
Child was allowed to play for 20 minutes and was observed without their knowledge through a one way mirror.
For a control, a double blind design was used, where the female experimenter was present but pretended to be busy with paperwork to fit in.
Quantitative data (coding frame)
Children in the aggressive condition showed significantly more imitative aggression than children on the non aggressive or control conditions
Qualitative
Children thought it wasn’t appropriate for the female model to act aggressively by making comments such as; ‘That’s not the way for a lady to behave!’
Opposite comments for men; ‘That man is a strong fighter!’
Conclusions
Behaviours can be learnt via observation of role models and can be transmitted from one situation to another.
If a child sees an adult behaving aggressively, it legitimizes the behaviour so the child will assume the behaviour is acceptable.
Strength of a research method
High internal validity, due to controls over extraneous variables such as individual differences using the matched participants design.
Weakness of a research method
Low ecological validity as the setting doesn’t represent where violence may be seen frequently.
Strength of the sample
Equal amounts of boys and girls so can generalise imitative aggression to both genders
Weakness of a sample
Biased sampling- Bandura selected children were already aggressive to a degree tso they’d be able to fit the hypothesis of imitative aggressive.
Ethnocentric- Sample used has children who’ve already been exposed to the media frequently so will see instances of aggression (in television/games)
Strength of validity
High population validity, used both boys and girls to represent imitative behaviour in very young children.
Weakness of validity
Low ecological validity- The task doesn’t represent how violence would be displayed in a real life situation
Strength of reliability