Developmental area: Bandura Flashcards
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
What is operant conditioning?
Learning as a result of rewards and punishments
What does social learning theory suggest about how learning takes place?
Learning through observation and imitating behaviour of others
What was the aim of Bandura’s study?
To see whether children would imitate aggressive behaviour when given the opportunity, even if they saw these behaviours in a different environment and the original ‘model’ was no longer present
What was hypothesis 1 from Bandura’s study?
‘Subjects exposed to aggressive models would reproduce aggressive acts resembling those of their models’
What was hypothesis 2 from Bandura’s study?
‘Observation of subdued non-aggressive models would have a generalised inhibiting effect on the subjects’ subsequent behaviour’
What was hypothesis 3 from Bandura’s study?
Subjects would “imitate the behaviour of a same sex model to a greater degree than a model of the opposite sex”
What was hypothesis 4 from Bandura’s study?
‘Boys should be more pre-disposed than girls toward imitating aggression’
What research method did Bandura use?
Lab experiment
Observation
Snapshot
How many participants took part in Bandura’s study?
36 boys and 36 girls
Describe the sample in Bandura’s study
All children enrolled at Stanford University nursery school, ranged in age from 37 to 69 months with a mean age of 52 months
What sampling method was used in the study?
Opportunity
How did Bandura control for participant variables before the experiment?
They were assessed by the experimenter and nursery school teacher on four 5 point scales for prior levels of aggressivenesss
What were the four 5 point scales assessing?
Physical aggression
Verbal aggression
Aggression toward inanimate objects
Aggression inhibition
What was the correlation coefficient between the two raters and what does this suggest?
r = 0.89 which suggests a high level of inter-rater reliability
What type of experimental design was Bandura’s study?
Matched groups
Describe how the groups were matched
The children were arranged into triplets on the basis of their aggression scores and then randomly assignedto one of the 2 experimental conditions (aggressive/non aggressive model) or the control group
What were the IVs for Bandura’s study?
Model: (non)aggressive
Model: M/F
Child: M/F
What were the model conditions?
Aggressive male Aggressive female Non-aggressive male Non-aggressive female No model
Outline the toys available to the child in stage 1
Potato printing and stickers
Outline the toys which the model had in stage 1
Tinker toys, bobo doll and a mallet
How long did the model play with the tinker toys for in stage 1 before turning to the bobo doll? (aggressive model)
1 minute
Outline 3 examples of things the aggressive model did with the bobo doll
1) Laid the bobo doll on its side, sat on it and punched it repeatedly in the nose
2) Struck the doll in the head with the mallet
3) Kicked the bobo doll about the room
Outline 3 examples of verbal aggression that the model used against the bobo doll
1) ‘Sock him in the nose’
2) ‘Hit him down’
3) ‘Pow’
In the non-aggressive model, what did the model do?
Played with the tinker toys and ignored the bobo doll
After stage 1 where were the children taken?
To a smaller room
What was in the stage 2 room?
Attractive toys (e.g. fire engine)
What was the child initially told in stage 2?
That they could play with the toys
After how long did the experimenter go back to the child to speak to them again in stage 2?
After the child had settled into playing
What did the experimenter tell the child when speaking to them for a second time? (stage 2)
That they were her best toys and she wanted to keep them for other children
What was the purpose of stage 2?
Aggression arousal
What was there for the child in the 3rd room?
A range of toys (the same a the model used in the first room)
How long was the child observed in the 3rd room?
20 minutes
How was the child observed in the 3rd room?
Through a 1 way mirror
What type of sample was used to record data in stage 3?
A time point sample every 5 seconds
How did Bandura ensure that the observers weren’t biased in their recordings?
One of the observers was unaware of the child’s condition
Give 2 examples of controls
Position of the toys
Standardised timings
What were the 4 observation categories?
Imitation of physical aggression
Imitation of verbal aggression
Partial imitative behaviour
Non-imitative aggressive behaviour
Give an example of physical aggression
Punching the bobo doll
Give an example of verbal aggression
‘Sock him’
Give an example of partial imitative behaviour
Mallet aggression
Give an example of non-imitative aggressive behaviour
Slaps the doll
What was the finding in terms of hypothesis 1?
Children exposed to aggressive models engage in many more aggressive acts themselves afterwards
What was the finding in terms of hypothesis 2?
In general, children in non-aggressive model condition showed even less aggression than children in the control group
What was the finding in terms of hypothesis 3?
Boys imitated aggressive male more than aggressive female, girls imitated aggressive male more than aggressive female
What was the finding in terms of hypothesis 4?
Boys imitated more physical aggressive but girls imitated more verbal aggression
Give 2 examples qualitative findings
‘That’s no way for a lady to behave’
‘I want to sock like Al, Al was a good socker’
What did Bandura conclude from his findings?
That observing behaviour would produce imitative behaviour which wouldn’t be expected if that behaviour hadn’t been observed
As the parents would be staff at the uni, what does this mean in terms of generalising these children to children in general?
Children may have come from middle/high social class background and may also have more toys at home to play with
Why might the study be considered ethnocentric?
Because it was conducted in America where kids are likely to be more exposed to guns and violence
Was the study internally reliable (standardised)?
Yes, there were clear controls and detailed info on the procedure
Was there inter-rater reliability?
Yes - to a larger extent (r = 0.89) for pre-testing raters and yes for the observers as one of the observers was unaware of the child’s condition
Was the study externally reliable (sample gives consistent effect)?
No, only 6 children in each condition so there is limited use
Was the study an accurate test of learning behaviour through imitation?
Yes - kids were pre tested for aggression and extraneous variables were controlled
To what extent was the study ecologically valid?
It was in their nursery where they would get new toys and meet new people however it is unlikely that the children usually see violent strangers or have their toys taken away
Can the sample be generalised from?
No as this doesn’t consider how older children or adults learn
