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Bandura (1963)
Watching real-life, human filmed and cartoon aggression…
Bandura (1963)
Watching real-life, human filmed and cartoon aggression
Aim
1. If aggression seen on film would be imitated as it was when live models were used
2. If those more anxious about aggression would show less imitative aggression
Results
Mean total real-life aggression = 83
Mean total human film aggression = 92
Mean total cartoon aggression = 99Mean total control group aggression = 54
- Highest total aggression for boys imitating real-life male model = 131.8 acts
- Lowest was girls imitating real-life male model = 57.3 acts
- Overall boys showed more aggression in all conditions
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Sample
- 48 girls and 48 boys from Stanford Uni Nursery School
- 3 experimental groups with 24 children in each + control group with 24 children
Procedure
- Rated for aggression by those in the nursery and were matched for aggression
- Data for 'real-life' aggression and control group used form 1961 study
- 'Real-life' aggression group watched human model being aggressive and 'filmed' aggression group watched the same model on a film
- 'filmed' aggression ppt's were in a dark room and worked on potato prints whilst the video played
- 'Cartoon' group watched a cartoon character being aggressive
- 'cartoon' showed the female model dressed and behaving like a cat, with artificial flowers and grass and cartoon music
- Children made mildly aggressive before being observed in the playing room
- Observation lasted 20 mins with 5s intervals
- Each participant had 240 responses
- Responses recorded
- Imitative aggression (acts that the model showed)
- Partially imitative acts (main components of the acts but not the same)
- Mallet aggression (striking object with the mallet)
- Non-imitative aggression (aggressive acts but not same as the model)
- Aggressive gun play
Conclusions
- Observing filmed aggression leads to aggressive acts
- Study rejects theory that watching violence is cathartic (psychodynamic explanation) which assumes it reduces aggression
- Inter-observer reliability, showing consistency but not necessarily validity
- Importance of other environmental cues in a real-life situation (negative reinforcement, parental disapproval, vicarious learning)
Evaluation
Strengths
- Use of two observers, checking they agreed in scoring using categories = reliability
- Experimental method and 3 conditions same in all ways except for IV, scientific credibility can given and cause-and-effect conclusions can be made
- Practical applications, violence on TV likely to be modelled by those watching
Weaknesses
- Artificial setting affects validity, and no parents to use negative reinforcement to prevent aggression = models got no punishment so children wouldn't see it as wrong
- Generalisability due to the specific sample, not right to generalise and say all children watching aggression behave the same way