Which Banduras Bobo doll was most likely to show aggressive behavior?
May 18, 2012 But when it was their own turn to play with Bobo, children who witnessed an adult pummeling the doll were likely to show aggression too. Similar to their adult models, the children kicked the doll, hit it with a mallet, and threw it in the air. They even came up with new ways to hurt Bobo, such as throwing darts or aiming a toy gun at him. Children who were exposed to a non-aggressive adult or no model at all had far less aggression toward Bobo. Bandura’s findings challenged the widely accepted behaviorist view that rewards and punishments are essential to learning. He suggested that people could learn by observing and imitating others’ behavior. “In many respects, this research helped create the shift in psychology from a behavioristic to a social-cognitive approach to learning,” says Cathy Faye, Assistant Director of the Center for the History of Psychology at The University of Akron. Since Bandura donated his original Bobo doll in May 2010, it has been one of the Center’s most popular exhibits.Faye notes that the Bobo doll experiments were also influential outside of the scientific community. “Bandura’s findings were particularly important in 1960s America, when lawmakers, broadcasters, and the general public were engaged in serious debate regarding the effects of television violence on the behavior of children,” she says. Today, questions about violent media and video games linger, so Bandura’s research on aggression remains relevant. His Bobo-inspired social learning theory also contributed to the development of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Bandura is a member of an elite group who received both APS lifetime achievement awards: the William James and James Mckeen Cattell Fellow Awards. He was also named among the top five most eminent 20th century psychologists by the Review of General Psychology. It’s an impressive legacy for a project that began with a little creativity and an inflatable clown. Publications > Observer > Observations > Bandura and Bobo Albert Bandura is an influential social cognitive psychologist
who is known for his social learning theory, the concept of self-efficacy, and his famous bobo doll experiments. During the 1960s, he conducted the Bobo doll experiments, which studied observational learning. The aim of his bobo doll studies were to investigate if social behaviors (like aggression) can be learned by observation and imitation. He tested 36 boys and 36 girls between ages 3 to 6 years old. The children were pre-tested to see how aggressive they were by observing them in their nursery setting. The researchers then judged how aggressive their behavior was on a series of 5 point rating scales. The researchers matched the children in groups based on their levels of aggression. ConditionsThe experiment was manipulated into three conditions:
Stage 1: ModelingChildren were individually brought into a room containing toys to play with for 10 minutes while either:
Stage 2: Aggression ArousalEach child was then subjected to mild aggression arousal by being taken one by one into a room with nice toys. When the children began to play with the toys, the experimenter told the child that the toys were the experimenter’s best toys and that she decided to reserve them for the other children. Stage 3: Test for Delayed ImitationThe next room contained some aggressive and aggressive toys. Aggressive toys - mallet, peg board, dart guns, and bobo doll Non-aggressive toys - tea set, crayons, three bears, and plastic farm animals The children were brought into the room for 20 minutes and any aggressive behavior toward the toys were observed and rated through a one-way mirror. Results
ConclusionThese findings support Bandura’s Social Learning Theory - children learn social behavior, such as aggression, through the process of observational learning (watching the behavior of another person). This study brought about important implications for the effects of media violence on children. Limitations
ReferencesBandura, 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. Who were the most aggressive participants in the Bobo doll experiment?Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. The evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong. Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in the verbal aggression between boys and girls.
How did the model display aggressive Behaviour in Bandura's study?In 1961 Bandura carried out his famous Bobo doll experiment, a study in which researchers physically and verbally abused a clown-faced inflatable toy in front of preschool-age children, which led the children to later mimic the behaviour of the adults by attacking the doll in the same fashion.
What did Bandura say about aggression?Bandura proposed that aggression can also be learnt by the indirect mechanism of observational learning. Social learning theory maintains that children learn through a process of imitation. Aggressive acts carried out by a role model will be internalised by an individual and reproduced in the future.
What behaviors are shown in Bandura's experiment?These findings support Bandura's Social Learning Theory - children learn social behavior, such as aggression, through the process of observational learning (watching the behavior of another person). This study brought about important implications for the effects of media violence on children.
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