What does Bandura's study of Aggression tell us about development?

Comment on the Generalisability of the findings from Bandura’s study (sampling)

• The study was of 72 children with a mean age of 52 months, ranging from 37-69 months and 36 boys and 36 girls were in the sample.
• A matched pair design was then used with 24 children in each of the 3 conditions.
• The question remains, were these children representative?…..
• The sample is relatively small, especially when it is broken down into 3 groups. This might mean that there was a likelihood of biases in the sample or that not all ‘types’ of children would be included in the group.
• The children were volunteers (self-selected sample). The danger with this type of sample is that subjects who volunteer or who belong to families who volunteer them may have some personality characteristic or may be from a social group or location which is not representative of children as a whole.
• The children were from the USA. Would the findings have been the same for all cultures. Some cultures have a norm of non-violence (Amish People) where as the USA is a very violent society (ethno-centrism). The study was done in (1961) are the findings still generalisable to children today?

How could you make sample more generalisable?

• Bigger (more representative)
• Random (less likely patterns of bias)
• Variety Cultures (more representative)
• Variety of locations (more representative)
• Variety of age ranges (more representative)
• Are the finding representative of all ages?

How did Bandura investigate development / How has development been investigated.

• Bandura used an experiment to investigate child development.
• The experiment was lab-based (Procedures + Conditions standard)
• The study had 2 experimental conditions and control groups.
• Subjects were allocated to groups following a matched pair design.
• The IV was whether the subjects observed aggression or non-aggressive play.
• The DV was the level of aggressive play which was imitative.
• Bandura collected the data by observation.
• So Bandura used scientific methods to investigate development.

What does Bandura’s study tell us about the influence of other people on our behaviour – the nature/nurture debate.

• Bandura constructed his theory of Social Learning (Social Learning Theory)
• His experiments with aggression and the bobo doll form a key piece of evidence which supports this model/theory.
• The theory is a social determinism in that it only recognises that our behaviour is the product of our social environment. There is not reference to free-will or individuality.
• We learn our behaviour by observation of significant to us (Peers, Parents, teachers, media, sports stars).
• We are also much more likely to model ourselves on same sex role models.
• Thus the main findings of Bandura’s study would support the nurturist view of human behaviour.
• However, the findings are with young children, would adults be influenced in the same way – it is unlikely.
• Some children showed non-imitative aggression this might suggest that they were innately aggressive (nature)
• Problems of generalisability.

What are the implications for society of Bandura’s study?

• Bandura’s study showed how simple it is for young children 52 months (37-69months) average age to learn from another person.
• From the research it would suggest that that person must be an adult and of the same sex.
• The study showed that even an anti-social behaviour can be learned in this way.
• These findings would suggest that as a society we must take great care about the examples we set our children and great care over who we set-up as role models for children.
• Parents need to be aware of the power of role models on young children.

The media has a very important role as there are many potential role models on TV and films which children watch.

The media has a very important role as there are many potential role models on TV and films which children watch.

The media must put forward pro-social role models for children. So must the world of sport. Children must not watch films etc after the 9.00 O’Clock watershed.

Video games should be made less aggressive so that children do not model their behaviour on anti-social characters.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Bandura’s study.

Strengths:

• Was an experiment which used scientific methods it could, therefore, show a cause and effect relationship and the results are of a high status.
• The study was lab-based so that Bandura and his colleagues could control all extraneous variables and standardise conditions for all of the subjects as necessary. Also easy to repeat.
• The study used a matched pair design so that any comparisons made between groups would be based on groups of subjects who were much the same in terms of their aggression levels.
• Bandura used a control group which could act as a point of comparison or as a base-line to measure the other group against.
• Bandura used observations of subjects so that actual behaviour was measured and not recorded / reported behaviour such as in questionnaires.
• Bandura also used a team of observers and checked the inter-observer reliability with a correlation test. The result was .90 – very high. This showed that observers were collecting data in the same way.
• Bandura standardised the role models by showing the role model on a film rather than in real life where each ‘performance’ could be slightly different ∴ much harder to check imitative aggression levels. (later experiments)

Weaknesses:

• The lab may have low ecological validity.
• The behaviour may not have been natural because of experimental demand. (they guessed that the experimenter wanted them to be aggressive).
• The sample was relatively small and may have been unrepresentative of wider populations.
• The sample was made-up of volunteers. There may have been biased in some way because volunteers or their parents might have some personality characteristic which makes them prone to modelling behaviour.
• The sample were children from the USA. A very violent society. Are the findings biased or representative of other cultures.
• The use of a bobo doll was artificial. Children are bound to play in an aggressive manner with such a toy – it is designed to do so. Would the children do the same in a real life situation with a real person.
• Ethics: Bandura may have harmed children by teaching them to play aggressively and an adult playing aggressively may have frightened some children.