bandura et al (1961) bobo doll study

• aim

  to investigate if boys are more prone to acquiring aggressive behaviour
• participants

  72 children placed into 3 categories
• what were the categories and how many participants were there

  24 with an aggressive role model (female/male 6 girls & 6 boys)

  24 with a non-aggressive role model (female/male 6 girls & 6 boys)

  24 control group with no model
• what did the models do

  • aggressive role model - shouted at inflatable bobo doll, said things such as: "pow" & "throw him in the air"
  • non-aggressive role model - assembling a mechanical toy
  • no role model was present
• how was aggression measured

  rated on 4 separate, 5 point scales by multiple observers
• what happened after observing or not observing a role model

  • children play with toys in a room
  • then taken to another room and were made frustrated by deliberately shown new toys and told they were for other children
  • after 10mins, taken into a playroom with a range of toys including the bobo doll (behaviour was covertly observed)
• findings

  male child with male model are more aggressive (25.8 vs 5.5 with female child watching a female model)
• conclusion

  social behaviours such as aggression can be acquired by imitation of models and it is more likely when the modelled behaviour was gender typical
• strength

  • high internal validity
  • many factors controlled for such as: children covertly observed meant aggression was natural so behaviours were not altered because they thought they were being watched
  • we can be sure that the observed aggression was a result of children observing the aggressive models
• weakness (counterpoint)

  • low mundane realism
  • environment and aggressive task was artificial and controlled - conditions in which children were observed, toys told to play with and playing alone are different from a typical environment where child would show aggression (e.g: classroom where they may fight over a toy)
  • findings of observational learning of aggression might not apply to settings outside the lab
• strength

  • findings were consistent
  • inter-rater reliability in terms of aggression was over 90% agreement and later research by bandura (1965) shows similar findings on influence of modelled behaviour on aggression
  • study's findings are replicable and reliable
• weakness

  • banduras study does not provide an explanation for long term aggression
  • study was only done once and not over a period of time - behaviour measured immediately
  • findings not conclusive as dont know if children will still be aggressive over a week or year