Bandura Ross Ross 1961 Transmission of aggression through

Bandura, Ross & Ross (1961) Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models

Children see. . . children do!

Can children learn aggressive behaviours?

Learning Outcomes � To define Social Learning Theory � To be able to describe the study. � To apply understanding of Bandura’s study to 20 question quiz. � To evaluate Bandura’s study.

Background � This study is a laboratory experiment investigating the effects of observing aggression � What do you know about laboratory experiments? � Strengths/weaknesses?

Background Social Learning Theory & Behaviourist Theory http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=c. P 5 l. Cle. KPM

Summary of Background � This study is a laboratory experiment investigating the effects of observing aggression and was carried out by Albert Bandura who is, perhaps, best known for his role in developing social learning theory. � Social learning theory is an approach to child development which states that children develop through learning from other people around them. In particular social learning theorists emphasise the role of observation and imitation of role models. � In general, social development is seen as a continuous learning process, rather than as happening in stages.

Summary of Background � � The social learning approach has its origins in the traditional theories of classical and operant conditioning - the behaviourist perspective. Behaviourists try to explain the causes of behaviour by studying only those behaviours that can be directly observed and measured. For behaviourists the study of private mental processes (cognitive process like memory or perception) had no place in psychology. Although social learning theorists agree that we should observe what is observable, they also believe that there are important cognitive processes which need to be studied to explain behaviour. These cognitive processes cannot be observed but can only be inferred from observing actual behaviour.

Progress Check � 50 word summary of the background of this study!

Starter � Those that were present in Tuesdays Lesson to explain the background of the study to others! � Remember. . . ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Behaviourist Theory! Social Learning Theory! Rats Pigeons Dogs Conditioning? Cognition

Aim The aim of Bandura's study was to demonstrate that if children were passive witnesses to an aggressive display by an adult they would imitate this aggressive behaviour when given the opportunity.

Hypotheses 1. Children exposed to aggressive models will reproduce aggressive acts resembling those of the models. 2. Children exposed to non-aggressive models will reproduce less aggressive acts. 3. Children will imitate the behaviour of a samesex model to a greater degree than a model of the opposite sex. 4. Boys will be more predisposed than girls towards imitating aggression.

Participants � 36 boys and 36 girls aged between 37 to 69 months (mean age = 4. 4 years). � The role models were one male adult and one female adult. � The children were matched on the basis of their pre-existing aggressiveness. � So how did they do this? ? ?

� They did this by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behaviour. � It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behaviour; they were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. � The experiment is therefore an example of a matched pairs design.

Exam Question

Answer 6 a. Any two from: Boys and girls an equal number of boys and girls. From (Stanford University) (Same) Nursery School. The school in the nursery where the research was conducted. Aged between 37 -69 months. Mean age 52 months Under 6 years old Between 3 -5 years old. 72 children 1 mark – Partial or vague answer e. g. one characteristic only as identified above. 2 marks – Clear identification of two of the characteristics outlined above e. g. 36 boys and 36 girls

Answers Any one from: Problems relating to ethics e. g. withdrawal, consent, stress/psychological harm, physical harm – explained in relation to children. Children are more prone to demand characteristics than adults. . . Children may not understand what they are expected to do. . . Children may not ‘play the part’/be un-cooperative. . . 1 mark – Partial or vague answer e. g. difficulty identified but not explained e. g. getting consent from children is difficult, children may respond to demand characteristics. 2 marks –Difficulty identified and clearly explained in relation to children. NB: This answer does not need to be contextualised

Task Start your mind map Presentation 2 1 Aim Background Bundara, Ross & Ross 1961 SLT Behaviourist

Procedure � There were three main conditions – the aggressive condition, non-aggressive condition and the control group. Not exposed to any model

� The children in the aggressive and nonaggressive condition were further subdivided by sex and the sex of the role model they were exposed to.

�This complicated design has three independent variables – can you work out what they are? ! This is what the researcher is manipulating or changing? ?

� The children were tested individually � In stage one of the experiment children were brought to the experimental room by the experimenter. � The room was set out for play and the activities were chosen because they had been noted to have high interest for nursery school children.

� One corner was arranged as the child's play area, where there was a small table and chair, potato prints and picture stickers. � After settling the child in its corner the adult model was escorted to the opposite corner of the room where there was a small table, chair, tinker-toy set, a mallet and a five foot inflatable Bobo doll. � After the model was seated the experimenter left the experimental room.

Add to your Mind Maps

What is a Bobo doll? ! • A Bobo doll is an inflatable toy that is about 5 feet tall and is usually made of a soft durable vinyl or plastic. • The Bobo doll was most often painted to look like a clown. • The doll was designed to be bottom weighted so that if it were hit, it would fall over then immediately lift back up to a standing position.

� In the non-aggressive condition, the model ignored Bobo doll and assembled the tinker-toys in a quiet, gentle manner. � In the aggressive condition the model began by assembling the tinker-toys, but after one minute turned to Bobo and was aggressive to the doll in a very distinctive way. They also made verbal comments to the doll. � After ten minutes the experimentered and took the child to a new room which the child was told was another games room.

� In stage two the child was subjected to 'mild aggression arousal'. � The child was 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. � Then the child was taken to the next room for stage three of the study where the child was told it could play with any of the toys in there. In this room there was a variety of both nonaggressive and aggressive toys.

� The child was kept in this room for 20 minutes during which time their behaviour was observed by judges through a one-way mirror. Observations were made at 5 -second intervals therefore giving 240 response units for each child.

Add to your Mind Maps

Exam Question

Answers Most likely explanation may include: � All participants (experimental and control) were then taken to an anteroom that contained relatively attractive toys; a fire engine, a locomotive, a jet fighter, a cable car, a colourful spinning top and a doll set complete with wardrobe, doll carriage and baby crib. The experimenter explained that the toys were for the participant to play with but, as soon as the participant became sufficiently involved with the play material (usually in about 2 minutes), the experimenter remarked that these were her very best toys, that she did not let just anyone play with them, and that she had decided to reserve these toys for the other children. The experimenter and the participant then entered the adjoining experimental room. � Other appropriate description. 0 marks – No or irrelevant answer. 1 -2 marks – Vague or partial answer eg children’s aggression was aroused by having toys taken away from them. 3 -4 marks – An increasingly accurate and detailed explanation of what happened in the second stage eg the children’s aggression was aroused. They were given attractive toys including a fire engine, a jet fighter and a doll set to play with. After a few minutes the experimenter took the toys away saying they were her best toys and she wanted to save them for the other children.

Results � 1. 2. 3. � Three measures of imitation were obtained. The observers looked for responses from the child that were very similar to the display by the adult model. These were: Imitation of physical aggression (for example, punching the doll in the nose) 2. Imitative verbal aggression (for example, repeating the phrases "Pow!" or "Sock him in the nose". Imitative non-aggressive verbal responses (for example child repeats “He keeps coming back for more”) They also recorded other types of physical and verbal aggressive behaviours that were not complete imitations of the adult model

The results enabled the researchers to consider. . . � Which children imitate the models � Which models the children imitate � Whether the children showed a general increase in aggressive behaviour or a specific imitation of the adult behaviours.

Main findings 1. The children in the aggressive model condition made more aggressive responses than the children in the nonaggressive model condition 2. Boys made more aggressive responses than girls; 3. The boys in the aggressive model conditions showed more aggressive responses if the model was male than if the model was female

4. The girls in the aggressive model conditions also showed more physical aggressive responses if the model was male but more verbal aggressive responses if the model was female; (However, the exception to this general pattern was the observation of how often they punched Bobo, and in this case the effects of gender were reversed).

Conclusion � The findings support Bandura's Social Learning Theory. � That is, children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning - through watching the behaviour of another person.

Finish your Mind Maps & Present to the class!

Exam Question

Answers 6 A) An aggressive model male. � An aggressive model female. � A non-aggressive model female. 0 marks – No or irrelevant answer e. g. the control group, the group that did not observe a model, the aggressive model condition, the non-aggressive model condition. 1 mark – For each correctly identified experimental group.

Exam Question

Answers � No (informed) consent could be gained from the children because they were to young: under the age of 16/ No (informed) consent was gained from the children’s parents (no reference to this in the study) � The children could have been stressed/distressed/suffered short-term psychological harm through witnessing physical and verbal acts of aggression � The children could have suffered long-term psychological harm through witnessing physical and verbal words of aggression � The children could have suffered physical harm when given the opportunity to imitate/create acts of aggression The children did not realise they should have been given the right to withdraw if they did not wish to participate/continue participating in the study � The children were deceived because they were unaware that they were being covertly observed when they were in room 3 � No reference is made in the original study that the children were debriefed at the end of the study 0 marks – No or irrelevant answer eg confidentiality. 1 mark – Partial or vague answer eg mere identification of appropriate ethical issue – no consent, deception etc. 2 marks – A clear identification and description of an appropriate ethical issue, as outlined above.

Questions � This research is now 60 years old! Bearing this in mind, answer the following questions: � Do you think the same results would be gained if the research was replicated in 2013? Consider the task, the gender of the models, the attitudes of children etc… � How could you bring the experiment into the 21 st century? Provide a brief summary of research that you would design to test Bandura’s research aim.

Quiz Review your notes to prepare for the quiz http: //www. holah. co. uk/quiz/banduramulti. ht m

�Evaluate � Things Bandura’s study! to consider. . . Sample, ethics, methodology, reliability, validity, ecological validity, type of data produced, applications to real life.

Strengths Weaknesses

I feel confident with this and could explain this to someone else! I understand parts of this but need some more help please! HELP!!! I don’t understand!