Banduras studies Flashcards
what were the aims of bandura (1961) study
subjects exposed to aggressive models would reproduce aggressive acts resembling those of their role models.
vice versa for non aggressive acts.
subjects would imitate the behaviour of a same sex model to a greater degree than a model of an opposite sex
boys will be more aggressive than girls
what were the participants?(1961)
36 boys and 36 girls (72)
enrolled from Stanford university nursery school.
mean age of 52 months
a male and female served in the role of model and one female experimenter conducted the study for all children.
experimental design- how was the study carried out?(1961)
subjects were divided into 8 experimental groups of 6 subjects each.
control group of consisting of 24 subjects.
half experimental group were exposed to aggressive models and other non-aggressive.
half the subjects in aggressive/non-aggressive conditions observed same sex models. others observed opposite sex.
how were the control group matched to subjects? (1961)
matched to subjects based on ratings of their aggressive behaviour in social interactions in the nursery school.
-matched pairs design
what did the control group have no prior exposure to? (1961)
no prior exposure to the adult models and was tested only in the generalisation situation
3 independent variables of the 1961 study?
sex of child.
sex of role model.
condition children were exposed to.
stage one of banduras study (1961)
children were brought into the room by experimenter one corner was a child’s play area (picture stickers, table/chairs, potato prints).
adult model escorted to opposite corner near a bobo doll and other toys.
experimenter left once model was seated.
non-aggressive condition: model ignored bobo doll and assembled tinker toys in a gentle manner.
aggressive condition: model began assembling tinker toys but after one minute turned to bobo and was aggressive towards it.
after 10 minutes experimenter entered and took the child into a new room.
stage two of banduras study (1961)
aggression arousal.
child was subjected to mild aggression arousal.
child was taken into the room with relatively attracted toys but as they went to play the experimenter told them they were reserved for other children.
stage three of banduras study (1961)
was long was the child there for?
how were they observed and how much?
why is this good and bad?
test for delayed imitation
child was told to play with any of the toys in the room.
aggressive toys- bobo doll, dart guns.
non-aggressive- tea set, crayons, animals, cars.
child was kept in there for 20 minutes.
behaviour was observed by judges through a one way mirror.
observations were made at 5 second intervals.
-240 responses for each child.
this is time sampling and shows the range of behaviours but you may miss behaviours outside of them 5 seconds.
results of bandura (1961) study
children in aggressive model condition made more aggressive responses than children in non-aggressive model condition.
boys were more aggressive than girl however groups did nit differ in imitation of verbal aggression.
boys in aggressive model conditions had more aggressive responses if the model was a male than if the model was a female.
girls in the aggressive model conditions showed mire physical aggressive Reponses if the model was male but more verbal aggression if the model was female.
aims of banduras study (1963)
to see if aggression seen on fil would be imitated as it had when models were seen in the 1961 study.
they thought that boys would show more imitative aggression than girls.
those who had watched aggression would show more aggression than those who had not watched aggression.
participants from 1963 study
48 girls and 48 boys (96) mean age of 52 months
enrolled from Stanford university nursery school
male And female served in the role of a model and one female experimenter for all children.
experimental design (1963)
how was the control group matched?
divided into 3 experimental groups with 24 children in each and 1 control group with 24 children.
groups divided into boys and girls different gender models so some children watched same sex model and others did not.
matched based on basis of ratings of their aggressive behaviours in social interactions.
what was the procedure of the 3 groups?(1963)
what was the control group not exposed to?
what were the response measures and observations?
group 1-watched real life male/female models become aggressive to bobo doll.
group 2-watched 10 minute film version of female/male models become aggressive to bobo doll.
group 3- watched cartoon version of female model dressed as a cat be aggressive to bobo doll.
control group was not exposed to violence.
response measures and observations same as 1961 study.
results of banduras study (1963)
children who had been exposed to aggressive behaviour exhibited nearly twice as much aggressive behaviour as the control group.
human film mode had the highest level of total aggression.
boys exhibited more overall aggression than girls.
boys exposed to male model showed significantly more aggressive gun play than boys exposed to female model.
aims of banduras study (1965)
see if consequences to the model would affect if the child imitated behaviour.
wanted to see whether, if a direct reward was introduced, the differences found from rewarding or punishing the model would be wiped out.
boys perform more aggression than girls.
participants (1965)
how were the children assigned.
33 boys and 33 girls enrolled from Stanford university nursery.
mean age of 51 months.
children were assigned randomly to one of three treatment conditions of 11 boys and 11 girls.
First part of the Procedure of bandura study (1965)
Children brought individually to a semi-darkened room.
Experimenter left and the child was told to watch tv
5 minutes began with model going to bobo doll telling it to move and gave 4 responses with verbalisation.
Rewards and punishments were introduced in the closing scene of the film
What happened in the 3 conditions after the closing scene (1965)
Children in model rewarded condition: second adult appeared with sweets and soft drinks. Informed model he was a strong champion
Children in model punished condition: reinforcing agent appeared shaking his finger and commenting on the model to stop and spanked him.
Children with no consequence condition:viewed same thing but no reinforcement ending was included.
How did the observers get results for the study (1965)
What did neither of them have knowledge on?
How many children did they score independently?
What percentage did they agree with scoring matching responses?
Two observers shared the task of recording the occurrence of matching responses for all 66 children.
-Neither of them had knowledge of the treatment conditions to which the children were assigned
-Scored 10 children independently to ensure reliability
-Agreed 99% in scoring the matching responses
What happened near the end of the experiment?
What were the children informed about?
What did the experimenter ask and what did they do when they responded?
Experimenter entered the room with drinks and stickers for positive reinforcement to encourage children to perform the behaviour they had learned through observation.
After they were informed that for each physically and verbal imitative response they reproduced they would receive a reward.
Experimenter asked what happened on tv and rewarded him immediately following each matching responses
What were the results of bandura (1965).
What were the results of non consequence group?
How did it affect the girls?
Where were the number of imitations higher?
What were the results of the boys who witnessed rewarded of no consequence model?
No consequences group did not differ from one another and performed bigger number of imitations on average than those who seen model punished.
Punishment administered to the model reinforced the girls existing inhibitions over aggression and produced little imitative behaviour whereas boys displayed similar but not as significant.
Positive incentitives, number of imitations was higher in all conditions showing that direct reinforcement over rode impact of whether model was rewarded/punishedd/no consequence.
Boys who witnessed model either rewarded or left without consequence performed all of the the imitative responses they learned through observation where positive reinforces were made available.
How is bandura study low in generalisability?
1961- 36 boys/36 girls enrolled from Stanford with mean age of 52 months
1963-48boys/48 girls enrolled from Stanford with mean age of 52 months
1965-33 boys/33 girls enrolled from Stanford with mean age of 51 months
Results may not be true for older children/ teenagers/ adults or children from other backgrounds
It’s also a controlled observation and lab experiment- doesn’t show natural environment.
How are the studies high in reliability?
The test for delayed imitation the response measures and the observation were the same in 1963 study and 1961 study.
This allows for replication.
The study has been replicated with slight changes such as using videos and similar results were found.
How can the findings be applied to real life?
Watershed (9pm in the uk) aims to prevent young viewers from observing and imitating harmful behaviours they might see in tv shows or movies improving the lives of individuals.
Has led to measures such as the watershed being put in place to protect children.
How are the studies low in ecological validity?
Children all witnessed adult role models act aggressively towards the bobo doll then given an opportunity to act aggressively towards the bobo doll themselves afterwards.
Durkin (1995) points out that. Very rarely will an adult demonstrate how to attack something and then allows a child to have a go.
Why were there minor ethical issues of the studies?
Children were presented with adults acting in an aggressive manner.
The children could learn this behaviour and continue to use is in their day to day life.
They should have neem shown a pro-social role to encourage the imitation of positive behaviour.
