Bobo Doll Experiment Essay

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Introduction Albert Bandura was a pioneer in social cognitive theory, a subfield of social psychology. Before Bandura’s widely known, but controversial Bobo Doll Experiment, the emphasis had been on behaviorism with behavioral psychologists such as James B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, and Pavlov ruling the field. These behaviorists had focused on learning by trial and error. Bandura thought humans are much more than “learning machines.” He felt that we learn from role models, initiating the social cognitive theory. Social cognitive theory led to the Bobo Doll Experiment. The Bobo doll was a five-foot tall inflatable doll that would bounce back up if knocked over.
Hypothesis
Bandura wanted to find out if human behavior is learned by copying and imitating a role model’s aggressive and non-aggressive behaviors. He also wanted to know if children would be more or less likely to identify with a same-sex role model and if boys showed more aggression than girls.
Experiment
Bandura’s 1961 research consisted of 36 children of each sex from three to six years old for to test his prediction that boys show more aggression than girls. For the control group who would …show more content…
A one-way mirror was placed in the room to observe the subjects. In the first group, the subject was assessed for aggression after watching an adult kick and hit Bobo with a mallet. For the second group, the subject sat in the same room with an adult present. Along with Bobo, there were other toys, but the subject could not play with them. The last group, the control group, sat alone in the room for ten minutes. The subject was then taken to a room filled with toys along with Bobo and the mallet. Next, the subject was assessed in terms of aggression for punching, kicking or hitting Bobo with a mallet. Verbal aggression and the number of times the subject hit Bobo with the
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