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Bandura's BoBo Doll Experiment 1961 - Coggle Diagram
Bandura's BoBo Doll Experiment 1961
Aim:
-To find out if children show more aggressive behaviour after observing an aggressive role model, and non-aggressive behaviour after observing a non-aggressive role model
-To determine whether sex of the role model made a difference in behaviour- specifically if same sex's were more likely to replicate
-To see if boys are more aggressive than girls
Sample:
72 Children
3-5 years old
36 boys, 36 girls
24 were set as the control group, the other 48 were split into groups of 6- 3 boys, 3 girls
Procedure:
Half the children in the experimental group observed an aggressive role model, the other half observed a non-aggressive role model
Each group was divided again, one for a same sex role model, and one for the opposite sex
Baseline aggression tests were taken so the groups could be matched on similar aggression levels- 4 separate 5 point scale questions
Children were taken into a room and sat at a table with everyday toys, eg stickers, stamps
Bobo doll sat on the other side of the room
They then re-entered the room with a model, they were told to draw, the model was then sat at another table with aggressive toys
The experimenter left
Model, punched, sat on, kicked the Bobo doll- repeated three times and aggressive language was used; 'Hit him down', 'Kick him'.
In the non-aggressive groups the model played quitely
After 10 mins, the child was taken to another room and told they could not play with certain toys- to trigger mild aggression
The children were then watched playing with the toys, for 20 mins
-Interval observation-
watched in regular time intervals
Behaviours were separated into 3 types of imitative behaviour:
Imitative verbal aggression- repeated aggressive phrases and words
Imitative non-aggressive verbal statements- repeated non aggressive phrases, eg, 'he sure is a tough guy' etc
Imitative physical aggression- repeated physical aggression
Results:
Participants who observed aggressive behaviour displayed a lot more aggressive behaviour
1/3 of aggressive group displayed non-aggressive behaviour
Aggressive group were more likely to display non-imitative aggressive behaviour
Females exposed to a female role model, showed more imitative aggressive behaviour, than the boys
Found that the male model had more of an effect than the female model
Boys spent more time with aggressive toys, eg guns, mallet
Conclusion:
Children exposed to aggressive role models were much more likely to imitate the behaviour
Weaknesses:
Low validity
Demand characteristics, children may have thought that the experimenters wanted them to replicate the behaviour
Unethical- BPS Code of Ethics, 'normalising unhelpful behaviour' participants are supposed to leave the study the same way they entered
Strengths:
Mix of boys and girls and large sample
Although, they all came from the same nursery so it is an under representation of the target population
Highly replicable, standardised procedures replicated 1965 from 1963