bandura ross and ross 1965

Question 1

what are the aims

Answer 1

if reinforcing an aggressive model results in most imitation
if punishing an aggressive model leads to less imitation
if giving an observer direct reinforcement would decreasse differences of boys and girls usually found

Question 2

what was the method

Answer 2

• 66 ppts from standford uni nursery 3 1/2 - 6
• 3 groups 11 boys 11 girls in each
• 2 male models, one female experimenter
• children brought individually to semi darkened room to watch something before they could go to surprise playroom
• 5 min film on adult being aggressive to bobo doll, sequence of physical and verbal aggression repeated 2x
• final scene changes based on groups
  model rewarded- 2nd adult gave model junk food and said he was a strong champion
  model punished - 2nd adult said hey there you big bully and hit him with a magazine
  control group - nothing happened
• child taken into room with toys, observed for 10 min every 5 seconds by 2 observers
• after 10 min experimenter reentered and gave them juice and told them for every act they coppied from the film they would get a sticker and juice

Question 3

what were the results

Answer 3

• model reinforced = more aggressive than punished, boys more than girls
• control and model reward showed similar aggression
• when given incentive to copy there was no difference between 2 groups
• incentive reduced difference between boys and girls
• more physical actions imitated 67% than verbal 20%

Question 4

what conclusions can be made

Answer 4

punishment leads to less imitation
not necessary to see model rewarded for imitaion
imitation influenced with incentive
incentives reduce gender differences

Question 5

evaluate

Answer 5

• limited to children aged 3-6 and culture of USA they have more developed motor responsed, older children may have more developed verbal activity, not representative
• not possible to identift other contributing factors that may encourage or inhibit imitation, further research required
  + well documented, standardised procedures, replicable
  + inter rater reliability, 2 observers, reduces subjectivity increasing reliability and validity
• lack of ecological validity, taken into dark room by someone they havent met