| Bandura Theory (further) | - How children observe and imitate role models
- How they copy behaviours and emotional reactions
- Self-efficacy |
| What the experiment included | - 72 children from Stanford university nursery
- 36 girls, 36 boys
- Behaviour study
- 3 groups - aggressive adults, non-aggressive adults, control group -no adults |
| Matching process | - Test children beforehand
- Parents and teachers rate out of five their verbal + physical aggression and their control |
| Phase 1 - Exposure
(Aggressive adults) | - Models have scripts
- Bobo doll in room
- Verbal aggression: "pow!" "sock him on the nose" and "stay down"
- Physical aggression: punching, kicking and throwing |
| Phase 1 - Exposure
(Non-aggressive adults) | - Adults play with tinker toys |
| Phase 1 - Exposure
(Control group) | - No adults
- Used for baseline to compare the other groups results with it |
| Phase 2 - Arousal | - Exciting new toys in room
- Children there for only 30 seconds
- Used to give them a reason to display aggression in phase 3 |
| Phase 3 - Performance | - Observers are behind mirror
- Children are alone
- Observing: imitated aggressive and non-aggressive verbal + physical behaviour
- Lasts 20 mins - looking every 5 seconds - timed sampling |
| Independent variables | - Gender of model
- Aggression of model
- Gender of child |
| Results
(Aggressive adults) | - Significantly showed more aggression than the other groups |
| Results
(Non-aggressive adults) | - NO signs of aggression |
| Results
(Control group) | - Showed some signs of aggression but not as much as the aggressive adult group |
| The experiment and standardisation | Conditions that were kept the same were:
- The room
- The script
- The actions
- The toys |
| Conclusions | - Children will learn though imitation + observation
- More likely to learn verbal aggression from the same-sex adult
- More likely to learn physical aggression from male models |
| Type of method and design Bandura used | - A mixture of laboratory, field and quasi experimentation
- Used the match pair design. |
| Weakness with the sample | - Didn't involve children with different backgrounds
- Could react differently |
| How does the study lack ecological validity | - Very controlled - unrealistic
- The script is dramatised |
| Data supporting idea that the children saw physical aggression as male behaviour | - ‘That ain't no way for a lady to behave’
- ‘He's a good fighter like daddy’ |
| Data used in study | - Bandura used both qualitative and quantitative data
- Results showed a significant difference between the conditions |
| Ethics in the study | - The arousal stage is harmful to a child’s self-esteem
- Children were not aware of the right to withdraw
- But would children of that age understand that concept |
| Validity of the study | - Extraneous variables controlled which reduced validity of research
- Has this experiment affected their long-term learning? |
| Reliability of the study | - Highly replicable
- The sample was not large enough to establish reliable effects |
| Sample in the study | - Does not tell us anything about how likely adults are to imitate behaviour |
| Ethnocentric meaning | - Using your own culture as the standard by which to judge and evaluate other cultures |
| Proof of it being an ethnocentric study | - The study was carried out in America
- America is known for its high levels of gun ownership
- Could have influenced aggression |
| Proof of it not being an ethnocentric study | - Research is ethnocentric if the same imitative learning behaviour happens in every culture |
| The natural side of this debate (NATURE VS NURTURE) | - Boys could be naturally more aggressive than girls
- A biological explanation would be that boys have testosterone |
| The nurture side of this debate (NATURE VS NURTURE) | - The effect of society on the boys
- Society shows acceptance of aggression in boys - ‘That ain’t no way for a lady to behave’
- Lots of parents mould their children to fit in with society’s stereotypical view |
| Free-will in study (FREE WILL vs DETERMINISM) | - Physical aggression seen as male behaviour, shows cognitive aspect of the children’s behaviour
- Indicating that children have some free will |
| Determinism in study (FREE WILL vs DETERMINISM) | - Biological determinism
- If we accept testosterone levels are linked to aggression
- That means the boys would be more aggressive |
| Usefulness in study | - The BBC introduced a Family viewing policy in the 70s which divides the times between children and adult programmes
- Social learning theory is used a lot in society e.g. role models in sport or fashion which is controversial |
