what is the procedure of Bandura + Walters experiment
children ages 3-5 split into 3 groups
all watched a film of an adult model behaving aggressively towards a bobo doll
the adult displayed distinctive physically and verbally aggressive acts towards the bobo doll
after watching, they were left in a room to play with a variety of toys including bobo doll
how were the groups split - bobo doll
group 1 - observed the aggressive adult being reinforced
group 2- observed the aggressive adult model being punished
group 3- did not observe the aggressive adult being punished or reinforced
what were the findings
the children in group 1 behaved the most aggressively
the children in group 2 behaved the least aggressively
what was the conclusion
children are likely to imitate aggressive behaviour if they observe the model being reinforced for it and less likely to imitate aggressive behaviour if they observe the model being punished for it.
this supports SLT and the concepts of vicariousreinforcement and punishment
