Bandura et al. (1961)

Who and when

Bandura et al. (1961)

Method

Laboratory Experiment

Aim

To investigate if social behaviors like aggression could be acquired by observation and imitation

Participants

36 boys and 36 girls from the Standford Uni. nursery between the ages of 3-6.

Procedure

1. 1. First, Bandura observed the children’s natural aggression levels and ranked them on a 5-point scale to create a matched pair design in each condition.

2. The conditions were: aggressive model, non-aggressive model, no model

3. There were three stages of the experiment: Modeling, aggression arousal, and delayed imitation

Findings

1. Children who watched the aggressive model were more likely to imitate the aggressive behavior

2. Girls who watched the aggressive male model were more physically aggressive than those who watched the female model, who were more verbally aggressive towards the Bobo doll.

3. Boys were more likely to imitate the same-sex model than girls and committed more aggressive acts.

Conclusion

Aggressive behavior can be learned through observation and imitation of a model. The behavior is more likely to be imitated if the model and behavior are relatable and/or socially acceptable.

Strengths

• High internal validity

• Replicable

Limitations

• Ethical considerations

• Small sample