Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment Notes

Bandura (1961) - Bashing Bobo Study

Background

• Conducted by Albert Bandura, a classic experiment in social psychology.
• Investigated whether children learn aggressive behavior by observing adults.
• Study provides detail about social cognitive theory, ethics, and research methods.
• Bandura's approach extended Behaviorism, viewing individuals as shaped by life experiences.
• Focuses on how rewards and punishments influence behavior.
• Social Cognitive Learning Theory: Learning occurs through observation, not just rewards/punishments.
• Vicarious Reinforcement: Imitating behavior after observing others being rewarded for it.
• The study raises ethical concerns.

Procedure and Results

• Aim: To demonstrate that children will imitate aggressive behavior if they witness it in adults.
• Predictions:
  • Children exposed to aggressive models will reproduce similar aggressive acts.
  • Children will imitate the behavior of same-sex models more than opposite-sex models.
• Participants: 36 boys and 36 girls, aged 37-69 months (mean age = 52 months).
• Adult role models: one male and one female.
• Independent Variables:
  • Conditions: Control group, Aggressive model group, Passive model group.
  • Children exposed to adult models were subdivided by gender and model gender.

Experimental Conditions

• 6 boys with same-sex model - aggressive condition
• 6 boys with opposite-sex model - aggressive condition
• 6 girls with same-sex model - aggressive condition
• 6 girls with opposite-sex model - aggressive condition
• 6 boys with same-sex model - non-aggressive condition
• 6 boys with opposite-sex model - non-aggressive condition
• 6 girls with same-sex model - non-aggressive condition
• 6 girls with opposite-sex model - non-aggressive condition
• Researchers pre-tested children for aggressiveness using a 5-point rating scale assessing:
  • Physical aggression
  • Verbal aggression
  • Aggression toward inanimate objects
• A composite aggression score was calculated for each child and children were matched across groups based on similar levels of aggression.
• Observers: experimenter (female), nursery school teacher (female), and the model for male aggression.
• Inter-rater reliability was assessed by having two observers independently rate 51 children. A high correlation ($r = 0.89$) indicated high reliability.
• Testing Procedure (Individual):
  • Stage One:
    • Child taken to a play room with a table, chair, potato prints, and stickers in their play area.
    • Adult model escorted to the opposite corner with a table, chair, blocks, mallet, and Bobo doll.
    • In the non-aggressive condition, the model quietly played with blocks.
    • In the aggressive condition, the model played with blocks for one minute, then turned to Bobo and behaved aggressively (physically and verbally).
    • Examples of physical aggression: “raised the Bobo doll, picked up the mallet and struck the doll on the head.”
    • Examples of verbal aggression: “Pow!” and “Sock him in the nose!”
    • The experimenter returned after 10 minutes and took the child to another games room.
  • Stage Two:
    • Child subjected to “mild aggression arousal.”
    • Child was taken to a room with attractive toys and allowed to play, but then told the toys were reserved for other children.
  • Stage Three:
    • Child taken to another room with both non-aggressive (three bears, crayons) and aggressive toys (mallet, dart guns, Bobo doll).
    • The child was kept in this room for 20 minutes, and their behavior was observed through a one-way mirror.
    • Observations were made at five-second intervals (240 response units per child).
    • Measures of Imitation:
      1. Imitative physical aggression
      2. Imitative verbal aggression
      3. Imitative non-aggressive verbal responses
    • Other Aggressive Behaviors Recorded:
      • Punching Bobo
      • Non-imitative physical and verbal aggression
      • Aggressive gunplay

Results

• Children who observed the aggressive model exhibited more aggressive acts than those who observed the non-aggressive model.
• Boys displayed more aggressive acts compared to girls.
• Boys in the aggressive condition showed more aggression when the model was male.
• Girls in the aggressive condition showed more physical aggression when the model was male but more verbal aggression when the model was female.
• The exception was punching Bobo, where gender effects were reversed.

Evaluation

• Experiment used a matched pairs design to control for pre-existing aggression levels.
• Small sample size limited generalizability. Participants were children of Stanford University employees.
• The study demonstrates that aggression may be learned, but it doesn't negate the possibility of innate aggression.
• Ethical concerns include exposing children to adult violence, potentially causing stress and long-term psychological effects.
• Controlled setting lacks ecological validity; the situation is not typical for children.
• Cross-sectional design limits the study, it only looks at short-term aggression and not long-term effects.