Bandura et al 1961

sample

A group of 72 children; 36 boys and 36 girls with a mean age of 4 years and 4 months

Where were the children recruited from?

Stanford University nursery

what were all children matched for before the study?

Children were matched on the basis of their pre-existing aggressiveness, which was rated on a 5-point scale by the experimenter and nursery school teacher prior to the experiment.

Aim

The aim of Bandura et al.'s 1961 study was to investigate the effect of children's exposure to an aggressive model and test the following hypotheses:

⦁ Children exposed to an aggressive adult model will show more aggressive behaviour.

⦁ Children exposed to a non-aggressive adult model will show less aggressive behaviour.

⦁ Children will imitate same-sex models more than opposite-sex models.

⦁ Boys will imitate aggressive behaviour more than girls.

what design were all 3 studies?

matched-pairs design

What was the IV and the DV?

IV: Bandura manipulated two sets of IVs:

(1) whether the role model was aggressive or non-aggressive,

(2) whether the role model was the same sex or opposite sex to the child; there was also

(3) a Control condition where the children did not see a role model at all.

DV: Bandura's observers recorded the number of verbal, physical, mallet and gun-play aggressive actions the children carried out; they also counted the number of acts of non-imitative aggression.

How were the children separated?

The children were split into 8 experimental groups with 6 children in each and a control group of 24 children (who were not exposed to a model and were just observed. Half of the experimental group saw an aggressive role model and half saw a non-aggressive role model. The groups were also split so that half saw a same sex role model and half saw an opposite sex role model.

Procedure

Stage 1: Modelling - In the experimental conditions children were individually shown into a room containing toys and played with some potato prints and pictures in a corner for 10 minutes while either:

Condition 1: 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a 'Bobo doll'. The adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner - they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted "Pow, Boom".

Condition 2: Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo-doll).

Condition 3 (control): The final 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were used as a control group and not exposed to any model at all.

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Stage 2: Aggression Arousal - All the children (including the control group) were subjected to 'mild aggression arousal'. Each child was (separately) taken to a room with relatively attractive toys. As soon as the child started to play with the toys the experimenter told the child that these were the experimenter's very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children.

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Stage 3: Test for Delayed Imitation - The next room contained some aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys. The non-aggressive toys included a tea set, crayons, three bears and plastic farm animals. The aggressive toys included a mallet and peg board, dart guns, and a 3 foot Bobo doll. The child was in the room for 20 minutes and their behaviour was observed and rated though a one-way mirror. Observations were made at 5-second intervals therefore giving 240 response units for each child. Other behaviours that didn't imitate that of the model were also recorded e.g. punching the Bobo doll on the nose.

name the 3 stages in the procedure

stage 1 - modelling

stage 2 - aggression arousal

stage 3 - test for delayed imitation

results

⦁ The boys' physical aggression after a male aggressive role model (average 25.8 acts) to the girls' after a female aggressive role model (5.5)

⦁ The girls' verbal aggression after a female aggressive role model (13.7) to the boys after a male aggressive role model (12.7)

⦁ The children who observed an aggressive role model showed a lot of verbal and physical aggression that resembled the scripted routine the model had acted out.

⦁ A male role model had a bigger influence than a female role model: the aggressive male model produced more aggression; the non-aggressive male model produced more calm.

conclusion

⦁ Behaviour can be learned by imitation even if it hasn't been reinforced (as Skinner suggested). In fact, complex patterns of behaviour can be learned through imitation without needing reinforcement for each part.

⦁ The male role model was much more influential than the female and boys' showed a much greater tendency to engage in physical aggression. Bandura links this to cultural expectations. He suggests that even at a young age, boys and girls have learned what society expects them to behave like, based on TV, stories and family.

⦁ Verbal aggression was sex-typed, with girls imitating the female role model and boys imitating the male role model. This suggests that, if there are no strong cultural expectations, people will imitate the model they most identify with, even if the model is a stranger.