During the 1960s, Albert Bandura conducted a series of experiments onobservational learning, collectively known as the Bobo doll experiments. Two of the experiments are described below:
Aim
Sample
Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) tested 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old.
It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behavior. The experiment is, therefore, an example of amatched pairs design.
Method
Alab experimentwas used, in which the independent variable (the type of model) was manipulated in three conditions:
Stage 1: Modeling
In the experimental conditions, children were individually shown into a room containing toys and played with some potato prints and pictures in a corner for 10 minutes while either:
Stage 2: Aggression Arousal
All the children (including the control group) were subjected to “mild aggression arousal.” Each child was (separately) taken to a room with relatively attractive toys.
As soon as the child started to play with the toys, the experimenter told the child that these were the experimenter’s very best toys and she had decided to reserve them for the other children.
Stage 3: Test for Delayed Imitation
Results
Conclusion
Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person. The findings supportBandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory.
This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.
Evaluation
There are three mainadvantagesof theexperimental method.
Limitationsof the procedure include:
Vicarious Reinforcement Bobo Doll Study
So we not only watch what people do, but we watch what happens when they do things. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. We are more likely to imitate behavior that is rewarded and refrain from behavior that is punished.
Bandura (1965)used a similar experimental set up to the one outlined above to test vicarious reinforcement. The experiment had different consequences for the model’s aggression to the three groups of children.
One group saw the model’s aggression being rewarded (being given sweets and a drink for a “championship performance,” another group saw the model being punished for the aggression (scolded), and the third group saw no specific consequences (control condition).
When allowed to enter the playroom, children in the reward and control conditions imitated more aggressive actions of the model than did the children in the punishment condition.
References
Bandura, A. (1965).Influence of models” reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses.Journal of personality and social psychology, 1(6), 589.
Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S.A. (1961).Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models.Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 63, 575-82.
Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963).Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models.The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66(1), 3.
Bandura, A. (1977).Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Further InformationBandura’s Social Learning TheoryBobo Doll Study SummaryBBC Radio 4 Programme: The Bobo DollBobo Doll Summary PowerPoint
Further Information
Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education
Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.
Saul McLeod, PhD
BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester
Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.
