Study 1 : Bandura and Ross (1 961 ) Experimental investigation on learning aggression rom a model

Aim To see if children would imitate the aggression of an adult model and whether they would imitate same-sex
models more than opposite sex models.

Procedure

Participants were 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School (mean age 4.4) who were divided into three groups matched
on levels of aggressiveness before the experiment. One group saw the adult model behave aggressively towards a bobo doll, one group saw the
model assemble toys, and the last group served as control. The children were further divided into groups so that some saw same-sex models and
some opposite-sex models. The laboratory was set up as a play room with toys and a bobo doll. The model either played with the toys or
behaved aggressively towards the bobo doll. After seeing this, the children were brought into a room with toys and told not to play with them in
order to frustrate them. Then they were taken into a room with toys and a bobo doll where they were observed for 20 minutes through a one-way
mirror.

Results

Children who had seen an aggressive model were significantly more aggressive (physically and verbally) towards the bobo doll. They imitated
the aggressive behaviour o the model but also showed other forms of aggression. Children were also more likely to imitate same-sex models.
Boys were more aggressive overall than girls.

Discussion of results

This key study supports social learning theory. Aggressive behaviour can be learned through observational learning. It is not possible to
conclude that children always become aggressive when they watch violent models (e.g. on television or at home). Generally, research supports
that children tend to imitate same-sex models more and this is also the case for adults.

Evaluation: The laboratory experiment is low in ecological validity. The aggression here is artificial and there may be demand characteristics.
The children were very young and it has been criticized for ethical reasons.
In spite of the fact that this study supports social cognitive learning theory, it is important to critically evaluate the study with regard to both its
method and its ethics. First, the experiment has been criticized for low ecological validity. Not only was it carried out in a laboratory, but there
are also other factors that make the situation less than natural. There is only a very brief encounter with the model, and the children are
intentionally frustrated after they begin to play with a toy. This situation does little to predict what happens if a child is repeatedly exposed to
aggressive parents or violence on television. One also has to question the actual aggression that was observed. Does the aggression against a
Bobo doll indicate learned aggression in general, or it is highly specific to this situation?
Bandura, Ross and Ross (1963) carried out a follow-up study to see whether children were also willing to imitate a model presented in the
media. In this experiment Bandura exposed a group of children to either a movie featuring the same aggressive actions as in the first experiment
or a cartoon in which a cat beat a Bobo doll with a hammer. There was also a control group that watched no film. After the movie, he then
placed the children in a room with a Bobo doll to see how they behaved with it. Bandura found that the children who had watched the violent
movie showed more aggressive behaviour toward the Bobo doll, regardless whether there were real people or cartoons. The control group
demonstrated significantly lower levels of aggression.
In addition to the questionable ecological validity of Bandura’s two studies, there are other methodological considerations. The aggression
modelled by the adult in the first experiment was not completely standardized, meaning that the children may have observed slight differences in
the aggression displayed. However, when the film was used, this behaviour was standardized, eliminating confounding variables. Also, in spite
of the attempt to match the participants with regard to aggression, it was based on observations from teachers and parents, and this may not have
been completely accurate. Finally, there is the question of demand characteristics: the children may have acted aggressively because they
thought it would please the researcher.
One also has to consider the ethics of using young children in such an experiment. Observing adult strangers act in such a violent manner might
be frightening to children. Also, it is questionable whether it is appropriate to teach children violent behaviour. There was no guarantee that once
violent behaviour was learned, it would not become a permanent feature of the child’s behaviour, or be generalized to other situations.
Study 2:

Joy, Kimball & Zabrack (1986) studied the impact of television on children's aggressive behaviour by carrying out a longitudinal natural
experiment.
The study was conducted in three small towns in British Columbia, Canada; first in 1973, when one town, Notel, did not yet have television
reception, and again in 1975, two years after Notel received one Canadian channel. Two other towns in the same region of the country were also
observed. They also received the new channel, but already had access to television programming. The psychologists observed both physical and
verbally aggressive behaviour displayed by elementary school children on the playground. There were 120 children in the sample. In addition,
teacher and peer ratings of aggressive behaviour and information about television viewing habits were obtained.

The aggressive behaviour of children in Notel increased significantly from 1973 to 1975, whereas, the aggressive behaviour of children in the
other two towns did not change significantly over the same period. The peer and teacher ratings supported the findings. The researchers also
found that males were more physically aggressive than females. The information collected about children's favourite shows showed no
differences between the aggressive and less aggressive children. The most probable explanation of the increased aggression in Notel children
was heightened arousal, resulting from Notel children's lack of familiarity with television. Heightened arousal would result in a greater
likelihood of aggression.

Study 3:

Charlton et al. (2002) Observation of the introduction of television in a remote community (St. Helena)
Aim To investigate whether children in St. Helena would exhibit more aggressive behaviour after the introduction of television to the island in
1995.

Procedure

The study was a natural experiment. Children (aged three to eight years) were observed before and after the introduction of television through
cameras set up in the playgrounds of two primary schools on the island. The level of aggression in television matched what children in the UK
were exposed to. The researchers also conducted interviews with teachers, parents, and some of the older children.
Results There was no increase in aggressive or antisocial behaviour. This was also the case after five years.

Discussion of results

The data showed that children did not change their behaviour after television had arrived although they saw the same amount of violent
television as British children. The parents and teachers said that antisocial behaviour was not accepted on the island and that there was a high
degree of social control in the community. It shows that people may learn aggressive behaviour but they may not exhibit it for several reasons.

Social and cultural actors also play a role in what behaviours are acceptable, so even though the children had no doubt learned aggressive
behaviour, they did not show it.

Evaluation The study investigated a real-life event and is high in ecological validity. It does not question SLT but rather the results of Bandura
and Ross (1961 ). The results also confirm the idea that people must be motivated to imitate behaviour.

BIOLOGICAL BASIS

Mirror Neurons: https://youtu.be/Xmx1qPyo8Ks

 The theory is testable under lab conditions, but it is not really highly testable under naturalistic conditions. This leads
to the problem of often low ecological validity.
Testable Studies done under naturalistic conditions are often correlational in nature - leading to questions of bidirectional
ambiguity - e.g. do children who watch more violent television become more aggressive - or do more aggressive
children choose to watch more violent television?

There is evidence such as Bandura et al (1961) - but there are ethical concerns. In addition, the study only looked at
Empirical the short-term effect.
evidence There are studies such as Joy et al that are natural experiments that seem to support the claim, but causality is difficult
to determine.

The theory has high heuristic validity - that is, it can be used to explain a variety of human behaviours. It has been
Applications
connected to how we learn aggression to the development of anorexia to how we may change our health behaviours.

Constructs Motivation to replicate the behaviour is difficult to measure; in addition, the concept of vicarious reinforcement
makes an assumption about what is actually happening.

The theory has a strong bias toward the "nurture" side of the argument. Today psychologists would argue that social
learning interacts with our physiology, leading to the behaviour. On its own, social learning has a difficulty
explaining individual differences.
Unbiased There is biological support for the theory. Modern biological research indicates that mirror neurons may play an
important role in learning. Mirror neurons are brain cells that fire when an animal performs an action and when it sees
the same action performed by others, thus mirroring another’s behaviour (see box below).
The theory has been shown to be relevant cross-culturally.

Predictive Bandura has proposed some variables that increase the likelihood that we would imitate a behaviour - for example,
power we like the model, we are in the same in-group as the model or we like the reward that is received by the model. The
theory has relatively good predictive power.