Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models

who was the researcher?

Bandura, Ross, and Ross

What year was this published?

1963

What was the historical context?

society was concerned about violence in media and reenactment of violence outside of the movie theaters (this study is two years after Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiments

What was the implicit research question

studied film-mediated aggressive models in relation to imitative behavior in children

Who were the participants

-48 boys and 48 girls in Nursery School (age 35 months to 69 months) (separated in 4 groups of 24 children)
-1 adult male and 1 adult female role models
-1 female experimenter

Can you explain the setup of the experiment?

-real life aggression model (same sex and opposite sex)
-human film aggression model
-cartoon film aggression model
children would watch model and then go to delayed imitation testing (went to first attractive room, was removed to incite aggression, and were given choice between aggressive or non-aggressive toys)

What were the overall results

Total Aggression
Real life: 83
Human Film: 92
Cartoon Film: 99
Control: 54

Exposure to aggressive models increase probability of aggressive behavior when instigated later; Real-life aggression significantly more imitative aggression than cartoon

Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test - 3 experimental groups do not differ in total aggression, but pverall, more aggressive than control group

Boys - significantly more total aggression, imitative aggression, non-imitative aggression, aggressive gun play than girls
Girls - more likely to sit on Bobo doll without aggressing, even with male model

Is this study generalizable?

limited demographic diversity; limited sample size; all Stanford Nursery students

What were some main issues with the study?

ethical: participants were young children (avg 4.3 years); questions about whether children could fully comprehend what they were asked to do; potential for lasting psychological harm not fully considered; unclear if parental informed consent was given
methodological: limited sample size, categories of aggression have questionable and generic definitions; lack of follow-up to determine lasting behavior change

Is there any other important information?

children are the most likely to be imitative; what does this mean for lifelong and ongoing graphic exposure?