Bandura

Research method

Laboratory experiment

Design

Matched participants

Age of children

37-69 months

IV1

Aggressive/non-aggressive

IV2

Male/female model

IV3

Male/female child

Matched on

Ratings of aggression by teacher/researcher

The non-aggressive model

Quietly played with tinker toys

The aggressive model

Sat on the Bobo doll and repeatedly hit it in the face, hit it in the nose with mallet

Examples of verbal aggression

"sock him in the nose", "pow"

Examples of non-aggressive verbal responses

"He sure is a tough feller", "he keeps coming back for more"

Sample

36 boys and 36 girls from Stanford University Nursery

How many experimental conditions

8

How many in control group?

12 girls, 12 boys

Aggression arousal

After 2 minutes the researcher told them that they couldn't play with the nice toys as they were for the other children.

Time samples

Every 5 seconds

Duration of observation

20 minutes

Imitative physical aggression

Child displays one of the novel aggressive acts

Non-imitative physical aggression

Aggression but not novel acts from model

Result on children who saw aggressive model

Reproduced most physical aggression and were most generally aggressive

Result on children who saw non-aggressive model

Least aggressive, tended to play quietly

Results comparing boys and girls

Boys were more aggressive overall

Boys observing aggressive male model

More likely to imitate aggressive physical behaviours

Girls observing aggressive female model

More likely to imitate aggressive verbal behaviours

Qualitative data

Comments include male model was a "strong fighter", female model "That's not the way for a lady to behave"

The observation was

Covert, through a one way mirror

Impact on policy

The "watershed" - no violent/sexual behaviours before 9pm