Learningš ā¢ Bandura's Study (1961) Flashcards
What was the Aim of this study?
To identify whether aggressive behaviour could be aquired through the observation of aggressive models.
The researchers were interested in if children were more likely to:
* aggress having obeserved aggression
* whether they selectively imitated same-sex models
* whether boys were more prone to aquiring aggressive behaviours
What type of experiment was this study?
Laboratory experiment
What was the design of this study?
Matched Pairs Design
What was the sample for the study?
- 36 boys & 36 girls
- aged 3-6 years old
- All selected from the Stanford University Nursery, California
What is the significance of the children in the study being selected from the Stanford University Nursery?
Due the childrenās parents being very well educated, as Stanford University is an extremely competitive Ivy League University in America, and consequently, such high levels of intallect might brush off onto the children or alter their upbringing - making it much different to that of the standard American child. Ultimately makes the results somewhat unable to be generalised as the children are not represenative of ānormalā children of that age
What was the Independent Variable for the study?
(CHANGE TO IMPACT DV)
- Modelling of type/ level of aggression
- Sex of the model
- The child participant
What was the Dependent Variable for the study?
(MEASURED)
The level of aggression displayed by the children, measured through 240 observations made by 2 researchers, one observation for every 5 seconds for the duration of the time children were in the final room
What was the Organisation/ Grouping of Participants for the study?
(72 TOTAL, 50/50 GIRLS & BOYS, 24 PER MAIN GROUP, 6 PER SUB-GROUP) The children were placed into a sub-group of 6 of which all other children were the same gender. There were 4 types of sub-groups per main group, each sub group was shown a different gender of model, some the same as the gender of the children, some the opposite, and the actions of the models was determined by the main groups the children were also a part of, they are as shown:
What was the Procedure for the study?
Behaviour of the adult models was dependant on if a child was in one of the 2 experimental groups and if so, which group the children were a part of, either the Non-Aggressive group or the Aggressive group. Adult would then either be aggressive or not be aggressive and play with Tinker Toy Set
How was the behaviour categorised following the procedure?
(PROCEDURE)
During the childās 20 minuets in the observation room, the two observers (Indepenent/ āblindā observer & Male model) made exactly 240 observation per every 5 seconds for the entire 20 minuets for each child
(EXACTLY SAME NUMBER OF OBSERVATIONS PER CHILD, SANDARDISATION & RELABILITY)
Given an example of 2 of the verbal insults the adult models in the Aggressive group were told to say to the Bobo Doll
- āSock him on the nose!ā
- āPow!ā
Given an example of 2 of the physical actions the adult models in the Aggressive group were told to do to the Bobo Doll
- Push the doll over
- Sit on it and Punch it
What were the Results for the study?
- Children who were part of one of the two experimental groups and had therfore witnessed an aggressive model were likely to completely or partially imitate the aggression
- Children who had observed non-aggressive behaviour or those in the control group who didnt observe an adult at all displayed much less aggression
- It was found that boys were more likely to imitate aggression
displayed by a same-sex model than an opposite-sex model + more likely overall to imitate physical aggression over verbal aggression - In general, a male role model had a bigger influence than a female role model
Give 2 pieces of Quantitative data that support the results of the study
- The boysā physical aggression after a male aggressive role model (average 25.8 acts) whereas the girlsā after a female aggressive role model (5.5) (Supports claim more likely to immitate same-sex + that males more aggressive than females)
- The girlsā verbal aggression after a female aggressive role model (13.7) whereas the boys after a male aggressive role model (12.7) (Acts as evidence to suggest that imitation is more likely when the modelled behaviour is gender-typical e.g. verbal insults for women, hence girlsā score is higher on this than boys + boysā scores higher for physical)
What was the Conclusion for the study?
That social behaviour such as aggression can be aquired by imitation of models e.g. learning vicariously, consequently therefore supporting social learning theory
* Also that imitation is more likely when the modelled behaviour is gender-typical (e.g. physical aggression in males) and when the model and observer are of the same gender
What is the Generalisability of the study?
- Sample was large at 72 but contained children of a** select age group** and all from Stanford University Nursery. Such children might have had unusua/ uncommon home lives due to the level of intelligence all their parents would have - making them unrepresenative of ānormalā young children
- Generalising findings to adults is a problem - adults may have been significantly less influced by role models becuse of increased levels of maturity and cognitive development e.g. PF cortex developed. Therefore results not represantative of adult tendancy to observe & immitate behaviours
What is the Reliability of the study?
- Banduraās study is reliable due to its standardised procedures (same categories, same events/ scripts and same ammount of obsverations made per child) allowing for it to be replicated (1961, 1963 & 1965).
- Inter-rater reliability - this was due to Bandura using two observers behind the one-way mirror in the observation room, removing subjectivity and increasing reliability of results and observations
What is the Application of the study?
- Results can be applied to parenting styles - study suggests children imitate adults/ whom they consider a role model, so if you want your children to grow up calm and well-behaved, parents would need to keep their own temper as an adult role model + keep children away from other aggressive role models e.g. video game characters/ movie characters
What is the Validity of the study?
- Ecological Validity - laboratory experiment; the children were put in an artificial environment and exposed to artificial/ unusual adult behaviours. Therefore, their responses may have also been artificial as opposed to normal & reflective of a childsā real world tendancy to be aggressive due to observinng adult role models
- Demand Characteristics - The Bobo Doll is designed to be struck so that it will bounce back up. Children may have seen such a toy and directly assumed the researchers wanted to them to strike the doll themesleves (due to 6ft size would have been center of attention) as that is how it is played with. e.g. therefore demand charactersitics as children behaving how they think others want them to, not how they themselves autonomously behave
- Reductionism - Banduraās conclusions infer tht there are no other explanations for aggression, when in reality there certianly are e.g. Biological explanation. e.g. Raine et al. (1977) shows that aggression is linked/ can be caused by lesions on areas of the brain such as PF cortex or the amygdala
What are the Ethics of the study?
- Psychological Harm - major issue is harm and the wellbeing of participants, children may have been distressed by the aggressive behaviour they witnessed and the aggressive behaviour they learned from the study may have stayed with them, going on to become a behavioural problem. Participants are supposed to leave a study in the same state they entered it, which may not have happened here. This is an example of what the BPS Code of Ethics calls ānormalising unhelpful behavioursā.
- No Debrief, Informed Consent or Right To Withdraw - Children could not give valid consent to take part, their nursery teachers agreed and it is assumed the childrenās parents agreed to; this is only presumptve consent. Nonetheless, the children could not withdraw from the study and no effort seems to have been made to debrief them afterwards (by explaining that the aggressive adults were only pretending).
