Bandura (1965)

Aim of Bandura’s 1965 study

To investigate whether the reinforcement or punishment of an aggressive model would influence the aggression displayed children in response to frustration.

Who were the participants in Bandura’s 1965 study?

33 boys and 33 girls, aged 42-71 months old from Stanford University Nursery

Procedure of Bandura’s 1965 study

1. The children were split into groups and exposed to one of three conditions

   • The first condition saw a model be rewarded for their aggressive behaviour towards the bobo doll with a drink and chocolate.

   • The second condition saw a model be punished for their aggression by spanking them with a rolled up newspaper.

   • The control condition did not have the model be punished

2. Afterwards the children were shown toys they could not play with to make them frustrated.

3. The children were then taken to another play room and their behaviour towards the toys were measured, and they were later promised a reward to be aggressive to the model.

Findings of Bandura’s 1965

• children in the model punished condition were less aggressive than the other two conditions

• but once the reward was offered, all groups increased their aggressiveness

Conclusions of Bandura’s 1965 study

• vicarious punishment reduces imitated aggression

• But the promise of reinforcement is a more powerful influence on aggression

Strength of Bandura’s 1965 study

I: The study was highly controlled leading to high internal validity.

J: There was a control group where no behaviour was modelled to test for spontaneous aggression. It was also ensured that the behaviour was modelled in the same way for every child within a group.

E: This means the study is credible as it can be replicated and the results can be tested and the differences in observed behaviours were a direct result of the modelled behaviours.

Weakness of Bandura’s 1965 study

I: The manner in which the children’s demonstration of aggression is measured is unnatural so the study lacks mundane realism.

J: The adults displayed aggression to a bobo doll which is unnatural compared to road rage. Also, children are not likely to be aggressive to their toys but rather other children.

E: Therefore the findings from Bandura’s study on the reinforcement and punishment of modelled aggressive behaviours may not be applicable to real life situations of learning aggression.