Bandura (1961)

Original Study

Aim of Bandura’s 1961 study

To investigate whether aggression can be acquired by observed behaviour and if boys are more prone to acquiring aggression.

Participants of Bandura’s 1961 study

36 boys and 36 girls aged 3 to 6 from Stanford University Nursery

Procedure of Bandura’s 1961 study

1. The children with similar levels of aggression were placed into groups of 24.

2. The children were further split into 3s of the same sex and were allocated a condition

   • The aggression group witnessed an aggressive adult kicking, punching and be verbally aggressive to a bobo doll

   • The non-aggressive group witnessed a adult assemble mechanical toys

   • The control group did not witness any behaviour be modelled

3. The children were then shown a room full of toys that were for other children to make them frustrated.

4. After 10 minutes, the children were taken to a playroom with a range of toys and were observed through a one way mirror and their aggression was rated on a 5 point scale.

Findings of Bandura’s 1961 study

1. Those who had an aggressive model were more aggressive in imitative and non-imitative ways

2. Boys imitated more physical aggression from male role models

3. Girls imitated more verbal aggression from female models

Conclusions of Bandura’s 1961 study

• social behaviour such as aggression can be acquired by observing and imitating models

• Imitation is more likely if the model is of the same sex

Strength of Bandura’s 1961 study

I: Bandura’s study has many factors that were highly controlled.

J: The children were matched based on pre-existing levels of aggression and a control group with no role model was used to test for spontaneous, unconditioned aggression. The children were also observed covertly one at a time so their behaviour was not influenced by other children.

E: Therefore we can be sure that the observed aggression was a result of observing the aggressive behaviours

Weakness of Bandura’s 1961 study

I: The study lacks mundane realism.

J: An adult be aggressive to a bobo doll is an unnatural representation of aggression; unlike an adult having road rage. Also children wouldn’t usually be aggressive to their toys but rather other children.

E: Therefore Bandura’s findings on aggression being acquired by observing models may not be applicable to real life situations of learning social behaviours.