Albert Bandura- the Bobo doll experiment Paul IM Jennifer Kim

Who is he? Born 1925 in Canada Self education (seems to be influenced by his father) Graduated Unv of British Columbia A professor in psychology at Stanford Unv. The originator of social learning theory and the theory of self-efficacy. Major achievement-> social cognitive theory, therapy personality psychology and behaviorism.

Aim of the Bobo doll experiment Bandura wanted to see if children would imitate aggression modeled by an adult and he also wanted to know if children were more likely to imitate same-sex models Link to "Effects of violent media on Children”

Group The children of 72 were split into 3 groups of 24.

Procedure The children of 72 were split into 3 groups of 24. Each child was placed in a room with toys. A minute later, the child were told to leave the room immediately as it is the room for other children, and then the child were put into the room with an inflatable Bobo Doll and a mallet. (Of course there was a adult model for the first two groups behaving violently or nonviolently before they leave the room. )

Result Bandura’s group found that the children who had observed the aggressive models were significantly more aggressive. Boys-> physical violence (104:48.4) Girls-> verbal violence (57.7:36.3) Boys made comments like ‘Ladies shouldn’t do that!’ The results also indicated that the boys and girls who observed the nonaggressive model exhibited less non-imitative mallet aggression than in the control group, which had no model.

Conclusion Aggression is a learnt behavior instead of being innate Children are more likely to imitate behaviors modeled by the adults with same gender. For example, many boys commented negatively when a woman adult performed violence on bobo doll The form of violence differs depending on the sex; boys, who are closer to physical nature, are likely to be physically violent but girls tend to be more verbal and social. Girls are less likely to be physically violent but like boys, are equally prone to verbal aggression. Children observing an adult model utilizing violence are more likely to believe that this type of behavior is normal. They may, therefore, be more likely to use this type of action themselves when confronted by similar situations. Modeling is the powerful way of learning Learning can take place in absence of reinforcement. One can learn by via observation and modeling

Problems Low Ecological Validity It was carried out in laboratory, which is an artificial environment so it makes the situation less natural Children have only briefly encountered with the model adults so it is rash to decide whether the adults influenced their behavior. Is the aggression displayed genuine? Is aggression displayed a learnt one or due to surrounding?

Methodological consideration The aggression performed by adults is not standardized. Therefore children exposed to adults, who performed higher level of violence, are likely to be more aggressive. The Bobo doll springs back upright when it is hit and there is a strong possibility that the children saw it as a game rather than anything else. The result is totally based on observation so some observers might be biased against some children.