Bandura et al.

(Aggression)

Research Method: lab experiment

Experimental design: matched pairs design (as children were matched on their pre-existing levels of
aggression and then placed into independent groups)

Outline how the children were matched in this study. 

Children were matched on pre-existing levels of aggression by asking the children's teachers to rate them
on this factor, then matching them into triplets and assigning them at random to one of the three groups.

Explain why the children were matched in this study. 

Children were matched in this study to ensure that the groups were equal in terms of pre-existing
aggression: this guarded against the possibility that one group was already more aggressive than the other
regardless of the behaviour of the model they saw.

Outline one weakness of using this design in this study. 

The experimental design was independent measures because different groups of children saw each type of
model. A weakness of this is that the groups may have had different characteristics such as previous
experiences of aggressive play, and that this affected the results more than the behaviour of the model.

This study was conducted with children. Explain why this particular age group was used in this study. 
-This age group was used in this study because at this age (3-5 years) children are learning a great deal and
trying out novel behaviours, and may be particularly susceptible to the effects of role models.
-This made them appropriate for identifying the effect of observing other people's behaviours.

Describe the control group used in this study. Explain why it was necessary to have control groups. 
The control group had no exposure to a model.
A control group was necessary to make a comparison with both the experimental groups; otherwise it may
have been that exposure to any model affected subsequent behaviour.

PROCEDURE

Groups and pretesting

The children were divided into 8 experimental groups (each consisting of 6 participants) and a control
group (consisting of 24 participants).
The groups were as follows:

Aggressive model condition:

Non-aggressive model condition:

Confederates: two adults, a male and a female, served in the role of a model, and one female
experimenter conducted the study for all 72 children.

Pre-testing:
To increase validity, the children were matched on their preexisting levels of aggression. They were rated
on four five-point rating scales by the experimenter and a nursery school teacher. 
These scales measured the extent to which subjects displayed:
 physical aggression
 verbal aggression
 aggression toward inanimate objects
 aggressive inhibition. 
-51 subjects were rated independently and the inter-rater reliability of these scores was .89.
-The total scores for the children were then calculated and they were arranged in triplets and were
assigned at random to either the aggressive, non-aggressive or control group.

Procedure - Experimental Conditions

-The children completed the experiment individually.
-They were invited into a room to ‘play a game’. The experimenter sat the child down at one corner of the
room and demonstrated how to use potato prints. There were also picture stickers to use with images of
flowers/ animals/ western figures etc.
-Once the child was settled, the experimenter escorted the model to the opposite corner where there was
a table, chair, a tinker toy set, a small toy mallet, a 5-foot bobo doll. In the control condition, there was no
model. The children were in the room with or without the model for a total of 10 minutes.
Non-aggressive model behaviour
The non-aggressive model assembled the tinker toy set, completely ignoring the bobo doll and the mallet.

Aggressive model behaviour

-1 minute into assembling the tinker toys, the model laid Bobo on its side, sat on it and punched it
repeatedly in the nose.
-The model then picked up the mallet and struck the doll on the head. Then, the model tossed the doll up
in the air aggressively and kicked it around.
-This sequence was repeated approximately three times, along with verbally aggressive responses such as,
 "Sock him in the nose”
 "Throw him in the air,"
 "Kick him"
 "Pow,"
And two non-aggressive comments,
 "He keeps coming back for more"
 “He sure is a tough fella."

-At the end of 10 minutes, the experimenter entered the room, informed the subject that he would now go
to another game room and buy the model goodbye.

Aggression Arousal
The arousal experience was included for two main reasons;
1. In the first place, observation of aggressive behavior exhibited by others tends to reduce the
probability of aggression on the part of the observer. Consequently, subjects in the aggressive
condition, in relation both to the nonaggressive and control groups, would be under weaker
instigation following exposure to the models. 
2. Second, if subjects in the nonaggressive condition expressed little aggression in the face of
appropriate instigation, the presence of an inhibitory process would seem to be indicated.
-The experimenter brought the subject to an anteroom that contained these relatively attractive toys: fire
engine, a locomotive, a jet fighter plane, a cable car, a colorful spinning top, and a doll set complete with
wardrobc, doll carriage, and baby crib.
- The experimenter explained that the toys were for the subject to play with but, as soon as the subject
became 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.
-However, the subject could play with any of the toys that were in the next room. The experimenter and
the subject then entered the adjoining experimental room.
-It was necessary for the experimenter to remain in the room during the experimental session; otherwise a
number of the children would either refuse to remain alone or would leave before the termination of the
sessions.
-However, in order to minimize any influence her presence might have on the subject's behavior, the
experimenter remained as inconspicuous as possible by busying herself with paper work at a desk in the
far corner of the room and avoiding any interaction with the child.

Why aggression arousal was important. 

This was necessary because the researchers felt that observing aggressive behaviour may reduce the
probability of behaving aggressively, or observing non-aggressive behaviour may inhibit aggression, so this
second phase created a 'level playing field' for all participants.

Test for Delayed Imitation

-The children were then left alone in a room that included a one-way mirror and a variety of toys.
-The aggressive toys were a mallet, a 3-foot bobo doll, a peg board, 2 dart guns, and a tether ball with a
face painted on it.
-The non-aggressive toys were a tea set, crayons, colouring paper, 2 dolls and plastic farm animals among
other things.
-They were in the room for 20 minutes.

How the observations were operationalised: 

Observers did not know what condition the child was in, and agreement was 0.9. 

Imitated behaviour:
Imitation of physical aggression:
-This category included acts of striking the Bobo doll with the mallet, sitting on the doll and punching it in
the nose, kicking the doll, and tossing it in the air.
Imitative verbal aggression:
-“Sock him," "Hit him down," "Kick him," "Throw him in the air," "Pow."
Imitative nonaggressive verbal responses:
“He keeps coming back for more," "He sure is a tough fella."

Two responses were scored and were interpreted as partially imitative behaviour: 
Mallet aggression: Strikes objects other than the Bobo doll aggressively with the mallet. 
Sits on Bobo doll: Lays the Bobo doll on its side and sits on it, but does not aggress toward it.

The following additional non-imitative aggressive responses were scored:

Punches Bobo doll: Subject strikes, slaps, or pushes the doll aggressively. 
Non-imitative physical and verbal aggression: This category included physically aggressive acts directed
toward objects other than the Bobo doll and any hostile remarks except for those in the verbal imitation
category; e.g., "Shoot the Bobo," "Cut him," "Stupid ball," "Knock over people," "Horses fighting, biting"
Aggressive gun play: Subject shoots darts or aims the guns and fires imaginary shots at objects in the
room.
 RESULTS/FINDINGS

-The children in the aggressive model condition made more aggressive responses than the children in the
non-aggressive model condition
-Boys made more aggressive responses than girls;
-The boys in the aggressive model conditions showed more aggressive responses if the model was male
than if the model was female;
-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).
-Girls with a female aggressive model imitated the most verbal aggressive behaviour 

Describe how aggression was measured. Suggest one problem with measuring aggression this way.  
Aggression was measured by watching the children play freely and coding their behaviours every 5 seconds
for 20 minutes for imitative aggression, partially imitative aggression and non-imitative aggression.
One problem with measuring aggression in this way is that behaviours may have occurred between the
observation points which were not recorded, making the results less valid.

Explain why the findings may have been different if adults were used. 
-The findings may have been different for adults because they have an additional layer of moral
development and understanding of the consequences of their actions, so they may not have imitated the
model because they have probably been taught that aggression is wrong over a longer period.
Advantages if animals were used in the Bandura study instead of children. 
-Removes the potential risk of causing short-term distress or long-term harm to children Although it's
assumed that the children were naive to the purpose of the activity, it's still possible that they believed
they were supposed to copy the adults' behaviour. This wouldn't have been a risk if animals were used,
and the possibility that some animals have been exposed to more aggression prior to the study can't be
controlled

Disadvantages if animals were used in the Bandura study instead of children. 

-Animals don't acquire sex-typed behaviours that are a consequence of cultural factors in the way that
children do
-Because this has been shown to be important, an animal study wouldn't be able to test such social
influences