Bandura's Research (approaches | LA: Social Learning Theory)

Question 1

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate

Answer 1

social learning theory (SLT) in terms of whether children would imitate an aggressive role model

Question 2

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory (SLT) in terms of whether children would imitate an aggressive role model, aims:

Answer 2

• to investigate the effect of observed aggression on children’s behaviour
• to investigate the effect of same-sex modelling on children’s aggressive behaviour

Question 3

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory (SLT) in terms of whether children would imitate an aggressive role model, procedure:

Answer 3

• 72 participants took part in the study
• 36 girls
• 36 boys
• aged between 37-69 months

Question 4

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, the children were taken from

Answer 4

the Stanford University nursery

Question 5

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, Bandura asked the nursery staff to

Answer 5

rate each child’s aggression before the experiment

Question 6

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, Bandura used the nursery staff’s aggression ratings to

Answer 6

devise a matched pairs experimental design so that each condition of the independent variable would comprise an equal balance of aggressive children

Question 7

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, Bandura used the nursery staff’s aggression ratings to devise a matched pairs experimental design so that each condition of the independent variable would comprise an equal balance of aggressive children e.g.

Answer 7

a high-aggression child in one condition would be matched with a high-aggression child in another condition

Question 8

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, an adult male or female

Answer 8

model was observed per condition (the models were not known to the children) with a large inflatable doll named Bobo

Question 9

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, there were three conditions of the independent variable:

Answer 9

• aggressive model
• non‐aggressive model
• control group

Question 10

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, there were three conditions of the independent variable: Aggressive model

Answer 10

the model behaved aggressively towards the Bobo doll, using pre-determined, standardised behaviours e.g. hitting Bobo with a toy hammer

Question 11

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, there were three conditions of the independent variable: Non‐aggressive model

Answer 11

the model behaved in a non-aggressive way

Question 12

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, there were three conditions of the independent variable: Control group

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no model was present

Question 13

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, there was an equal number of

Answer 13

times in which a same-sex model or opposite-sex model was used per condition

Question 14

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, each child observed

Answer 14

the behaviour of the model for 10 minutes (aggressive or non-aggressive depending on the condition)

Question 15

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, after this period of observation,

Answer 15

each child was taken down a corridor and to another room

Question 16

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, each child was told that

Answer 16

they could not play with the toys in the new room as they were being saved for other children (the aggression arousal phase, to ensure a baseline across conditions)

Question 17

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, each child was then taken

Answer 17

to a room containing a Bobo Doll, aggressive toys such as a mallet and a dart gun and non-aggressive toys such as farm toys and crayons

Question 18

Bandura (1961) set up the following study to investigate social learning theory, the participants were observed in

Answer 18

the Bobo Doll room using a one-way mirror for a duration of 20 minutes

Question 19

Findings: children who had

Answer 19

observed aggressive behaviour were more likely to be aggressive towards the Bobo doll

Question 20

Findings: boys were

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more physically aggressive

Question 21

Findings: girls were

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more verbally aggressive

Question 22

Findings: children were

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more likely to imitate the behaviour of the same-sex role model

Question 23

Conclusion: aggression can be

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learned via the mechanisms of SLT

Question 24

Conclusion: imitation

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of aggression can occur after only a single exposure to the aggressive act

Question 25

Conclusion: aggression may be

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observed in one setting and imitated in a different setting

Question 26

Bandura’s Bobo doll study diagram

Answer 26

Question 27

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- Bandura used

Answer 27

a well-controlled, standardised procedure across several phases

Question 28

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- Bandura used a well-controlled, standardised procedure across several phases, this means that

Answer 28

the study could be replicated easily

Question 29

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- Bandura used a well-controlled, standardised procedure across several phases, repeated replication

Answer 29

of a study means that the results can be checked for consistency across time and using different samples

Question 30

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- Bandura used a well-controlled, standardised procedure across several phases, the above observations mean

Answer 30

that the study has good reliability

Question 31

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- The results of Bandura’s study

Answer 31

fuelled much debate as to children’s exposure to the depiction of violence on television

Question 32

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Strengths
- The results of Bandura’s study fuelled much debate as to children’s exposure to the depiction of violence on television, this means that

Answer 32

his study has good external validity as it can be applied to settings and behaviours beyond the experimental space itself

Question 33

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- Children do not

Answer 33

‘learn’ aggression in lab conditions; real-life violence is generally observed in familiar settings involving familiar adults

Question 34

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- Children do not ‘learn’ aggression in lab conditions; real-life violence is generally observed in familiar settings involving familiar adults, this makes

Answer 34

Bandura’s study less ecologically valid than research conducted in the field would be

Question 35

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- There are numerous

Answer 35

ethical issues with this study

Question 36

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- There are numerous ethical issues with this study, asking nursery

Answer 36

workers to rate children’s aggression is intrusive and may have encouraged bias

Question 37

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- There are numerous ethical issues with this study, some of the children were

Answer 37

exposed to an aggressive adult which may have alarmed and distressed them

Question 38

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- There are numerous ethical issues with this study, the aggression

Answer 38

arousal phase may have upset the children

Question 39

Evaluation of Bandura’s research
Limitations
- There are numerous ethical issues with this study, the children in the aggressive condition may

Answer 39

have gone on to use similar aggression outside of the experiment