Albert Bandura's Observational Learning Theory

Bandera believed that behavior could be shaped through observing and imitating behavior. He hypothesized that nonaggressive models would have a less violent effect on the kids (vice versa for aggressive models), women models would have a greater effect on the girl kids (same with men and boys), and boys in general would be more violent than girls. In this study, his main goal was to discover whether imitative learning would generalize to settings in which the bobo doll was not present with the child. Bandera used 36 girls and 36 boys (aged 3-6), which he split into three groups, one control group, one group seeing aggressive models, and the final group watching the nonaggressive models.

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

How much we do and feel are learned from other people. Albert Bandura researches further on how watching others influences our behavior. Bandura choice to study Aggression; watching violence reduces aggression. To figure out if it was true or not, Bandura experimented on young children ages 3-5 years old. This experiment was called the Bobo Doll Experiment; demonstrating how children learn through observation and imitation. The study showed that the young children imitated everything they had seen by the adult which they were kicking, hitting, and hammering it. In his study, what was most interesting is when the child imitated the adult of the same sex. Basically, the results of Bandura is based on what the children saw, is what they did.

violence in video games and aggression in people who play them. The “Play is labile”

The study done by Ross Bandura was the Bobo Doll Experiment. This study was done in 1961. He had a total of 72 participants 36 girls and 36 boys around the ages of 3 and 6 years old. Bandura was trying to “add credence to his belief that all humans behavior was learned, through social imitation and copying, rather than inherited through genetic factors” (Shuttleworth). Bandra designed an experiment that would allow some to watch aggressive actors and others to watch non-aggressive actors. Bandra decided to use children for the experiment because children tend to have less social conditioning and the also have “less instruction and teaching of rules of society than adults subjects” (Shuttleworth).

Before the children were left alone with the toy, one group of children ( Group A) watched an adult perform violent actions towards the doll. The other group of children (Group B) watched the adult perform nonviolent acts by ignoring the doll completely and playing with other toys.When the kids were left alone the ones that were in Group A were known to be aggressive towards the toy. The ones in Group B were seen to ignore the Bobo doll and instead play with the tinkertoys left in the lab setting. Bandura applied his steps of the observational learning process to this experiment. This is known because the children must have had to pay attention to act in the way they did towards the doll. Then they had to retain the information so they could recall it back to act on the Bobo doll. The kids had to imitate the violent or nonviolent actions and finally reinforcement was used because there was question of a consequence after the behavior occurred. Throughout life people of all ages engage in this observational

In their research of violent videogames and the effect on children, they have found that “the simplistic belief that exposure to media violence will lead directly to individual violence is clearly wrong.” (Kutner, Olsen, 2008) I am going to ask you to look deeper than this. I assert that although violent video games are thought to encourage real world violence, they actually help to prevent it.

Albert Bandura’s aim for this experiment was to do with how children perceive behaviour and how they may be influenced into recreating it. He wanted to show that when children witness aggressive behaviour, they would then imitate it when given the chance.

There have been many experiments to show how children can model violence after what they have been shown. One of the most famous models involves “Bobo the doll”. A group of twenty four children were involved in this experiment, some were shown aggressive behavior, some nonaggressive behavior, and some were shown no model. The children who were involved in seeing the aggressive model were more likely to repeat the aggressive behavior they were shown. Most involved hitting or shooting the doll, many threw the doll and repeated punches. This model shows that children are likely to repeat the aggressive behavior that is shown and modeled to them.

In the discussion of the Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiments, one controversial issue has been that observing violent behavior is subjected to imitation which can influence aggression behavior throughout life. On the one hand, logicians argue that the base of aggression is biological. On the other hand, some people assert that releasing aggression is essential for a healthy lifestyle. Others even maintain that imitating behavior is a necessary component of life. In my view, imitating behavior is a vital component in the growth of humanity. However, understanding the aspects of imitation and the effects it has on behavior as well as in life should be enforce on the youth and adult to reduce unacceptable behavior.

Each of us learn in different ways. I for one am a hands on learner. I learn best by getting my hands on things and seeing how things work. I am not very good at learning things by simply reading a book and taking a test. Although most of my schooling is just that. Many things influence our learning as well, such as environmental. These can include reinforcements, observations, associations, and punishment. Some of the primary learning theories I will discuss will be classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning.

from Waukesha, Wisconsin, were arrested for luring a classmate into the woods after a sleepover and stabbing her nineteen times. When asked why did they do it, they stated it was because of Slender man made them, a fictional supernatural character that originated as an Internet meme created by Something Awful forums user Eric Knudsen in 2009(1). They stated killing their friend was the only way to win his approval, that if they did not, he will harm them and their families. Weier and Geyser are being charged as adults and may face up to 65 years in prison. The stabbing resulted in a debate on the role of video games and the internet in society and its impact on children.

Does exposure to violence in video games, on TV, and in social media have an effect on those exposed to it? Are those who are underage more susceptible to any detrimental side effects from viewing these things? This has long been a topic of discussion among lawmakers, psychologists, and the scientific field as a whole. It concerns parents and community members, especially in the wake of a seeming rise in violence at school from bullying, fighting, or in the extreme cases of school shootings. Were any of these types of incidents encouraged by exposure to violence in media?

Observational learning, based on the work of Dr. Albert Bandura, also known as modeling and is described as the process of learning through observing others, storing the information, and then later imitating the behaviors that were observed. Through experiments performed by Dr. Bandura, specifically the Bobo Doll experiment, he theorized “by using aggressive and nonaggressive actors, that a child would tend to imitate and learn from the behavior of a trusted adult.” (Learning From Role Models) and that learning could happen by simply observing someone else's activity. In the video, the observational learning that the children received in the video was an example of imitating aggressive model behavior.

“Playing violent video games like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D or Mortal Kombat can increase a person 's aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior both in laboratory settings and in actual life”. (Smith, E., & King, L. (Eds.) 2014). It has also been confirmed