bandura SLT Flashcards
what are the aims of bandura’s study?
to see whether aggressive behaviours could be acquired through observation of aggressive models
who were the ppts of bandura’s study?
36 boys and 36 girls aged 3-6
what were the three groups that the ppts were split into?
agression group - observed an aggressive adult model (male or female) punching, kicking and shouting at a large inflatable bobo doll
non-aggression group - non-aggressive model assembling mechanical toys
control group - no model present
what were the steps of the experiment?
step 1: the children were brought into a room and allowed to play with toys (with or without a model)
step 2: the children were taken to another roo where all the children deliberately were frustrated (by showing them new toys)
step 3: finally, the children were taken into a playroom, filled with many toys (including bobo). their behaviour was observed through a one way mirror by a male model and another observer was present for half of ppts to determine inter-rater reliability
what were the behaviours were categorised?
imitative aggression: sitting on bobo or behaving aggressively
partially imitative: using a mallet aggressively on toys other than bobo
non-imitative aggression: punching bobo doll and saying hostile things, not said by model
what were the findings?
children who had witnessed the aggressive model were likely to completely or partially imitate the aggression and children who had observed the non-aggressive model or no model at all displayed much less aggression (none in 70% of cases)
boys were more likely to imitate aggression shown by a same-sex model than an opposite-sex model
boys are more likely to imitate physical aggression rather than verbal aggression
what was the conclusion?
social behaviour such as aggression an be acquired by imitation of models. imitation is more likely when the modelled behaviour is gender typical and when the model and observer are the same gender
what is a strength?
it had a good design that reduced the impact of extranuous variables and enhance the internal validity
- children were matched for aggression which reduces the impact of individual difference
- the degree of control in the design means we can be sure that the observed aggerssion is the result of imitation
what is a weakness?
it was conducted under artificial conditions
- lacks external validity
how can bandura be applied?
explaining how childen can acquire aggressive behaviour from adult models
- they now have a better understanding of the risks to children’s development poed by violent parents
