Dr. Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

Albert Bandura created the bobo doll experiment in 1961, the aim of this experiment was to show that if children where witnesses to aggressive displays by an adult of some sort they would imitate this behaviour when given an opportunity. The tested group contained 36 young girls and 36 young boys all aged between 4 and 5 years which was then divided into 3 groups of 24 – the aggressive condition, the non aggressive condition and the control group. The first group involved the children watching aggressive models, where the children where then subdivided by sex of the role model they were exposed to. The second group

3- How would you make it an experimental (rather than correlational) study (it might help to be specific here as well and define the two types of studies in your

The fundamentals of the social learning theory significantly describe offenders and their criminal behavior which is learned based on observation and imitation. A researcher by the name of Albert Bandura along with coworkers tested the social learning theory with several experiments on children and their imitation of aggression based on what they saw and were exposed to. Bandura’s focus was to prove that human behavior such as aggression is learned through social imitations and copying the actions of others. Walters (1966) gives details about the Bobo doll experiment and explains its purpose related to learning a violent behavior based on observation. In the experiment, the tested subjects were children of both sexes, ranging from the ages of three to six years. Some of the children were exposed to a non-aggressive adult, while the other children were placed in a room with an aggressive adult who would both physically and verbally attack the Bobo doll. The control group in the experiment was not exposed to any adult. During the second phase of the experiment, the children were left in a room by themselves with the toys, and watched to see if they would demonstrate the aggressive behavior like that of which they observed adults doing earlier. Walter (1966) describes the results as “children who had been exposed to an aggressive model showed more imitative physical and verbal

Group C – saw the adult being aggressive but then told off by another adult. After the film the children were observed in a playroom with toys and the bobo doll. Group A and B were similar, this telling they was not influenced by the reward but more influenced by the telling off. Afterwards they were all asked to imitate what happened to the doll and they could all copy the adult’s actions. Therefore

The room was also equipped with a one-way window so the child could be observed without their acknowledgement. The experiment showed that the consequences in the films that the children observed in the ending, created a different outcome. The children who witnessed the film were the adult was rewarded was most likely to repeat or imitate the aggressive behavior toward the Bobo doll. In the situation of the other children who watched the adult being punished for their aggressive behavior, the children were less likely to recreate the aggressive behavior towards the Bobo doll. After the findings Bandura added to the experiment. The children who watched any of the three films were asked to recreate what the adult did in the film. Each imitation the child recreated correctly, they were rewarded with candy and stickers. Virtually all the children were capable of recreating all actions, aggressive or non-aggressive. The different variations of the films the children watched had no impact on them. In conclusion to Bandura’s experiment, you are capable of imitating any behavior, aggressive or non-aggressive, but you are more likely to imitate if there is expectation of any type of reward.

Throughout this course, we have explored a vast amount of theories, however, Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) has been the one that intrigued me the most. Bandura’s SLT “strongly emphasized the importance of observational learning and cognitive variables in explaining human behavior (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk 2017).” According to our readings Bandura agrees with the behaviorist learning theories of classical and operant conditioning, he proposes that the SLT is a result of both person and situation, which does not have the same effect from either component on their own (Powell, Honey, & Symbaluk 2017). One of his most well-known studies involves a bobo doll. In which Bandura demonstrates that when someone observes violent behavior it increases the chances of violence of the spectator, and

On the other hand, it is possible to say that the children were manipulated into responding aggressively towards the BoBo Doll as they were teased and may have become frustrated because they could not touch the toys even though they had to watch the role models playing however it is not actually stated how long the children remained aggressive for. The experiment can be said to be unethical and morally wrong because the children were trained to be aggressive, as they were probably not used to watching adults behave some immaturely. Also as the experiment was preformed in a laboratory it therefore lacks eco-logical validity, as it may not have real life consequences. Another study that supports the Social Learning Theories of aggression is Patterson et al (1989).

What was the background for the research study? That is, what previous knowledge did the author describe as a foundation for the study in the “review of related literature”?

The controls are the ordinary groups that have not been treated. These are made so that the experimental groups can be compared to it.

When conducting an experiment to test this hypothesis, it must first begin with gaining the informed consent of the children’s parents to have their children to be able to participate. After obtaining their consent, each child would be randomly assigned to play with either a set of dolls or a set of action figures for an hour. Afterwards

Children need guidance and personal example from the adults around them to help them learn what is acceptable and what behaviour isn’t acceptable. Behaviour is greatly influenced by primary socialisation and children will react and take in how close family members act. Bandura developed the modelling idea where children would copy the adults around them. “There is much evidence that a child who witnesses or experiences violence at home may develop aggressive tendencies.” There are a number of different types of behaviour these include assertive, aggressive, submissive and manipulative behaviour.

In the Bobo doll experiment, the kids demonstrated behavior similar to what the saw. The hit the doll, hammered the doll, and kick the doll. Then the kids began to adopt different ways of attacking the doll, whether it was with a gun, smacking it with a ball, or hitting the tether ball which hit the Bobo doll. One possible implication of viewing violence when it comes to social learning is that violence might be a product of what they are taught. Like in the video, the kids saw an adult beating up a doll. In a way, the may think if the adult can do it, I can also beat up the doll. If the kid does not differentiate from what is appropriate from adult behavior, and kids behavior, they will copy behavior of authority. Another implication could

The first stage of the experiment is called modeling. In this stage the children were individually shown into a room where they would sit in one corner and pay with potato prints and pictures and the adult sat in the other corner with a mallet and the Bobo doll. In the first group, 24 children would watch a male or female adult abuse the doll both physically (kicked, punched, threw, and hit with different objects) and verbally (made aggressive and non-aggressive statements). In the second group, 24 children were exposed to adult who played quietly in the corner with the toys but avoiding the Bobo doll. The third group, 24 children were not exposed to neither an aggressive or non-aggressive adult. After 10 minutes went by, the adult in both groups left the

The children were then separated into groups with the similar level of aggression. There are 72 children, 24 are shown an aggressive role model, 6 girls and 6 boys are shown a female model, and another 6 boys and 6 girls are shown a male model. The next group of 24 children are divided the exact same way except that this time they are non aggressive role models. The last group of 24 children have no role model. That is their control group.

Why are the authors conducting the current study? Is the rationale logical and convincing? Justify your response.