the bobo doll experiment aim

Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment on Social Learning

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Saul McLeod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

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During the 1960s, Albert Bandura conducted a series of experiments on observational learning , collectively known as the Bobo doll experiments. Two of the experiments are described below:

Bandura (1961) conducted a controlled experiment study to investigate if social behaviors (i.e., aggression) can be acquired by observation and imitation.

Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) tested 36 boys and 36 girls from the Stanford University Nursery School aged between 3 to 6 years old.

The researchers pre-tested the children for how aggressive they were by observing the children in the nursery and judged their aggressive behavior on four 5-point rating scales.

It was then possible to match the children in each group so that they had similar levels of aggression in their everyday behavior. The experiment is, therefore, an example of a matched pairs design .

To test the inter-rater reliability of the observers, 51 of the children were rated by two observers independently, and their ratings were compared. These ratings showed a very high-reliability correlation (r = 0.89), which suggested that the observers had a good agreement about the behavior of the children.

A lab experiment was used, in which the independent variable (the type of model) was manipulated in three conditions:

• Aggressive model is shown to 24 children
• Non-aggressive model is shown to 24 children
• No model is shown (control condition) – 24 children

Stage 1: Modeling

In the experimental conditions, children were individually shown into a room containing toys and played with some potato prints and pictures in a corner for 10 minutes while either:

• 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) watched a male or female model behaving aggressively towards a toy called a “Bobo doll”. The adults attacked the Bobo doll in a distinctive manner – they used a hammer in some cases, and in others threw the doll in the air and shouted “Pow, Boom.”
• Another 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were exposed to a non-aggressive model who played in a quiet and subdued manner for 10 minutes (playing with a tinker toy set and ignoring the bobo-doll).
• The final 24 children (12 boys and 12 girls) were used as a control group and not exposed to any model at all.

Stage 2: Aggression Arousal

All the children (including the control group) were subjected to “mild aggression arousal.” Each child was (separately) 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.

Stage 3: Test for Delayed Imitation

• The next room contained some aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys. The non-aggressive toys included a tea set, crayons, three bears and plastic farm animals. The aggressive toys included a mallet and peg board, dart guns, and a 3 foot Bobo doll.
• The child was in the room for 20 minutes, and their behavior was observed and rated though a one-way mirror. Observations were made at 5-second intervals, therefore, giving 240 response units for each child.
• Other behaviors that didn’t imitate that of the model were also recorded e.g., punching the Bobo doll on the nose.
• Children who observed the aggressive model made far more imitative aggressive responses than those who were in the non-aggressive or control groups.
• There was more partial and non-imitative aggression among those children who had observed aggressive behavior, although the difference for non-imitative aggression was small.
• The girls in the aggressive model condition also showed more physically aggressive responses if the model was male, but more verbally 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.
• Boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models than girls. The evidence for girls imitating same-sex models is not strong.
• Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls. There was little difference in verbal aggression between boys and girls.

Bobo doll experiment demonstrated that children are able to learn social behavior such as aggression through the process of observation learning, through watching the behavior of another person. The findings support Bandura’s (1977) Social Learning Theory .

This study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children.

There are three main advantages of the experimental method .

• Experiments are the only means by which cause and effect can be established. Thus, it could be demonstrated that the model did have an effect on the child’s subsequent behavior because all variables other than the independent variable are controlled.
• It allows for precise control of variables. Many variables were controlled, such as the gender of the model, the time the children observed the model, the behavior of the model, and so on.
• Experiments can be replicated. Standardized procedures and instructions were used, allowing for replicability. In fact, the study has been replicated with slight changes, such as using video, and similar results were found (Bandura, 1963).

Limitations of the procedure include:

• Many psychologists are very critical of laboratory studies of imitation – in particular, because they tend to have low ecological validity. The situation involves the child and an adult model, which is a very limited social situation and there is no interaction between the child and the model at any point; certainly the child has no chance to influence the model in any way.
• Also, the model and the child are strangers. This, of course, is quite unlike “normal” modeling, which often takes place within the family.
• Cumberbatch (1990) found that children who had not played with a Bobo Doll before were five times as likely to imitate the aggressive behavior than those who were familiar with it; he claims that the novelty value of the doll makes it more likely that children will imitate the behavior.
• A further criticism of the study is that the demonstrations are measured almost immediately. With such snapshot studies, we cannot discover if such a single exposure can have long-term effects.
• It is possible to argue that the bobo doll experiment was unethical. For example, there is the problem of whether or not the children suffered any long-term consequences as a result of the study. Although it is unlikely, we can never be certain.

Vicarious Reinforcement Bobo Doll Study

An observer’s behavior can also be affected by the positive or negative consequences of a model’s behavior.

So we not only watch what people do, but we watch what happens when they do things. This is known as vicarious reinforcement. We are more likely to imitate behavior that is rewarded and refrain from behavior that is punished.

Bandura (1965) used a similar experimental set up to the one outlined above to test vicarious reinforcement. The experiment had different consequences for the model’s aggression to the three groups of children.

One group saw the model’s aggression being rewarded (being given sweets and a drink for a “championship performance,” another group saw the model being punished for the aggression (scolded), and the third group saw no specific consequences (control condition).

When allowed to enter the playroom, children in the reward and control conditions imitated more aggressive actions of the model than did the children in the punishment condition.

The children in the model punished group had learned the aggression by observational learning, but did not imitate it because they expected negative consequences.

Reinforcement gained by watching another person is known as vicarious reinforcement.

Bandura, A. (1965). Influence of models” reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses . Journal of personality and social psychology, 1(6) , 589.

Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S.A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models .  Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 63, 575-82.

Bandura, A., Ross, D., & Ross, S. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models . The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 66(1), 3.

Bandura, A. (1977). Social Learning Theory . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Further Information

• Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
• Bobo Doll Study Summary
• BBC Radio 4 Programme: The Bobo Doll
• Bobo Doll Summary PowerPoint

Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment (Explained)

The Bobo Doll Experiment was a study by Albert Bandura to investigate if social behaviors can be learned by observing others in the action. According to behaviorists, learning occurs only when a behavior results in rewards or punishment. However, Bandura didn't believe the framework of rewards and punishments adequately explained many aspects of everyday human behavior.

According to the Social Learning Theory, people learn most new skills through modeling, imitation, and observation. Bandura believed that people could learn by observing how someone else is rewarded or penalized instead of engaging in the action themselves.

In the hit television show Big Little Lies, tensions run high as an unknown child is accused of choking another student. The child is revealed as Max throughout the series (spoiler alert!). Max has an abusive father, and once Max’s mother realizes that her child is learning behaviors from her husband, she decides to take action. 

This cycle of abuse is sad but extremely common. Many abusers were abused themselves or grew up in an abusive household. These ideas seem obvious, but in the mid-20th century, evidence that supports these ideas was becoming known. 

What is the Bobo Doll Experiment?

In 1961, Albert Bandura conducted the Bobo doll experiment at Stanford University. He placed children in a room with an adult, toys, and a five-foot Bobo Doll. (Bobo Dolls are large inflatable clowns shaped like a bowling ball, so they  roll upward if punched or knocked down.)

Who Conducted the Bobo Doll Experiment?

This experiment made Albert Bandura one of the most renowned psychologists in the history of the world. He is now listed in the ranks of Freud and B.F. Skinner, the psychologist who developed the theory of operant conditioning . 

How Was The Bobo Doll Experiment Conducted?

Let’s start by discussing Bandura’s first Bobo doll experiment from 1961. Bandura conducted the experiment in three parts: modeling, aggression arousal, and a test for delayed imitation. 

Stage 1: Modeling 

The study was separated into three groups, including a control group. An aggressive adult behavior model was shown to one group, a non-aggressive adult behavior model to another, and no behavior models were shown to the third group. In the group with the aggressive adult, some models chose to hit the Bobo doll over the head with a mallet. 

The group with a nonaggressive adult simply observed the model playing with blocks, coloring, or doing non-aggressive activities. 

Stage 2: Aggression Arousal 

After 10 minutes of being in the room with the model, the child was taken into another room. This room had attractive toys; the researchers briefly allowed the children to play with the toys of their choice. Once the child was engaged in play, the researchers removed the toys from the child and took them into yet another room. It’s easy to guess that the children were frustrated, but the researchers wanted to see how they would release that frustration. 

Stage 3: Test For Delayed Imitation 

The third room contained a set of “aggressive” and “non-aggressive toys.” The room also had a Bobo doll. Researchers watched and recorded each child’s behavior through a one-way mirror. 

So what happened?

As you can probably guess, the children who observed the adults hitting the Bobo doll were more likely to take their frustration out on the Bobo doll. They kicked, yelled at, or even used the mallet to hit the doll. The children who observed the non-aggressive adults tended to avoid the Bobo doll and take their frustration out without aggression or violence. 

The Second Bobo Doll Experiment

Albert Bandura did not stop with the 1961 Bobo doll experiment. Two years later, he conducted another experiment with a Bobo doll. This one combined the ideas of modeling with the idea of conditioning. Were people genuinely motivated by consequences, or was there something more to their behavior and attitudes? 

In this experiment, Bandura showed children a video of a model acting aggressively toward the Bobo doll. Three groups of children individually observed a different final scene in the video. The children in the control group did not see any scene other than the model hitting the Bobo doll. In another group, the children observed the model getting rewarded for their actions. The last group saw the model getting punished and warned not to act aggressively toward the Bobo doll. 

All three groups of children were then individually moved to a room with toys and a Bobo doll. Bandura observed that the children who saw the model receiving a punishment were less likely to be aggressive toward the doll. 

A second observation was especially interesting. When researchers asked the children to act aggressively toward the Bobo doll, as they did in the movie, the children did.

This doesn’t sound significant, but it does make an interesting point about learned behaviors. The children learn the behavior by watching the model and observing their actions. Learning (aka remembering) the learning of the model’s actions occurred simply because the children were there to observe them.

Consequences simply influenced whether or not the children decided to perform the learned behaviors. The memory of the aggression was still present, whether or not the child saw that the aggression was rewarded or punished. 

Is The Bobo Doll Experiment An Example of Operant Conditioning or Classical Conditioning?

Neither! Since operant and classical conditioning rely on explicit rewards or penalties to affect behavior repetition, they fall short of capturing the full scope of human learning. Conversely, observational learning is not dependent on these rewards. Albert Bandura's well-known "Bobo Doll" experiment is a striking example.

This experiment proved that without firsthand experience or outside rewards and penalties, people might learn only by watching others. The behaviorist ideas of the time, which were primarily dependent on reinforcement, faced a severe challenge from Bandura's research.

Criticism of the Bobo Doll Experiment

A Reddit user on the TodayILearned subreddit made a good point on how the Bobo Doll Experiment was conducted: 

"A significant criticism of this study is that the Bobo doll is MEANT to be knocked around. It’s an inflatable toy with a weight at the bottom, it rocks back and forth and stands back up after it is hit.

How do we know that the kids didn’t watch the adults knock over the toy and say, 'That looks fun!' and then mimic them? These types of toys are still often sold as punching bag toys for kids. This study would have much more validity if they had used a different type of toy."

Bobo Doll Impact

There’s one more piece of the 1963 study that is worth mentioning. While some children in the experiment watched a movie, others watched a live model. Did this make a huge difference in whether or not the child learned and displayed aggressive behaviors?

Not really.

The Bobo Doll experiment has frequently been cited in discussions among psychologists and researchers, especially when debating the impact of violent media on children. A wealth of research has sought to determine whether children engage with violent video games and consume violent media, does it increase their likelihood to act out violently? Or, as suggested by the Bobo Doll experiment, do children merely internalize these behaviors and still maintain discretion over whether to act on them or not?

Multiple studies have aimed to tackle this question. For instance, research from the American Psychological Association has pointed to a link between violent video games and increased aggression, though not necessarily criminal violence. However, other sources, such as the Oxford Internet Institute , have found limited evidence to support a direct link between game violence and real-world violent actions. Despite the varying findings, the influence of Albert Bandura's introduction of observational learning and social learning theory cannot be understated. His Bobo Doll experiments remain pivotal in psychology's rich history.

Related posts:

• Albert Bandura (Biography + Experiments)
• 3 Theories of Aggression (Psychology Explained)

Observational Learning

• 40+ Famous Psychologists (Images + Biographies)
• Learning (Psychology)

Reference this article:

About The Author

Operant Conditioning

Classical Conditioning

Latent Learning

Experiential Learning

The Little Albert Study

Bobo Doll Experiment

Spacing Effect

Von Restorff Effect

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Bobo Doll Experiment

In this post

This study, carried out by  Bandura  and his colleagues, is an example of how social learning theory is researched. The study, also known as the ‘ Bobo Doll’  study, has been extremely influential since it was carried out in the 1960s.

Social learning theory is based on the idea that people will learn from watching role models. It is argued, especially with regards to children, that the behaviour of a role model will be repeated if that behaviour is not seen to be punished. Behaviour is thought to be even more likely to be repeated if children identify with the role models that they are observing.

Let’s now consider the research of Bandura in more detail. You are likely to be asked about this or the following research study in the appropriate section in the exam, so it is important that you know how the experiment was carried out, as well as its relative strengths and weaknesses.

Bandura, Ross and Ross aimed to find out if aggressive behaviours could be acquired by observation and imitation.

Thirty-six boys and 36 girls aged between three and five years took part in the experiment. In each of the three groups, half of the participants were boys and half were girls.

Twenty-four of the children were exposed to role models, who interacted with the life-size inflatable Bobo doll clown in an aggressive way. These children witnessed adults kicking the doll, hitting it on the head and shouting at it.

After this, the experimenter deliberately irritated and frustrated the children who had observed the aggressive behaviour by not allowing them to play with new toys that they had seen. Instead they were taken into a room with other older toys, which included the Bobo doll.

Another 24 of the children witnessed adults interacting in a non-aggressive way with the Bobo doll, they saw the adults simply ignore the Bobo doll and play with other toys instead.

The final 24 children acted as the control group and were not exposed to the Bobo doll at all.

• Children who witnessed aggressive adult behaviour were far more likely to imitate this kind of behaviour than in the other two groups

• Children who witnessed non-aggressive behaviour and those who were in the control group showed almost no aggression at all towards the Bobo doll
• Boys imitated more physically aggressive acts than girls, although both sexes were equally likely to use verbal aggression.

The findings support the social learning theory because the results show that children who observed aggressive role models were far more likely to imitate this behaviour than those who did not.

Strengths of the study

• The findings from the study have been very influential in finding out whether media violence has an impact on children’s behaviour
• The experiment took place in a laboratory, therefore all variables were well controlled
• The experiment has proven easy to replicate and has been carried out many times, with similar results since the 1960s.

Weaknesses of the study

• Children may have shown demand characteristics, which means that they displayed the behaviour that they thought the researcher was looking for
• The study lacks ecological validity, as it took part in a laboratory
• The research only looks at short-term behaviour and may not reflect children’s behaviour in the long term
• The study took place with an imitation doll; aggression may have been different with a real person who would likely have retaliated.

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Can video games make children violent? Can true-crime shows turn children into killers? All these statements assume that children are highly impressionable and will imitate what they see. This is exactly what Bandura set out to investigate in his famous Bandura Bobo doll experiment. Let's see whether children's behaviour is truly influenced by the content they consume or if it is all a myth.

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Jump to a key chapter

• First, we'll outline the aim of Bandura's Bobo doll experiment.

Next, we'll go through the Albert Bandura Bobo doll experiment steps to better understand the procedure used by experimenters.

Then, we'll describe the key findings of the Bandura Bobo doll 1961 study and what they tell us about social learning.

Moving on, we'll evaluate the study, including the Albert Bandura Bobo doll experiment ethical issues.

Finally, we'll provide Bandura's Bobo doll experiment summary.

Aim of Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

Between 1961 and 1963, Albert Bandura conducted a series of experiments, the Bobo Doll experiments. These experiments later became the key pieces of support for his famous Social Learning Theory, which has shifted the focus of psychology from a behaviourist to a cognitivist perspective of behaviour.

Let's go back to 1961, when Bandura sought to investigate whether children can learn behaviours solely from observing adults. He believed that children who will watch the adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll would imitate their behaviour when given a chance to play with the same doll.

In the 1960s, behaviourism prevailed. It was common to believe that learning can only occur through personal experience and reinforcement; we repeat rewarded actions and stop those punished. Bandura's experiments offer a different perspective.

Method of Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

Bandura et al. (1961) recruited children from Stanford University nursery to test their hypothesis. Seventy-two children (36 girls and 36 boys) aged three to six participated in his laboratory experiment.

Bandura used a matched pair design when dividing the participants into the three experimental groups. Children were first assessed for their aggression levels by two observers and divided into groups in a way that ensured similar levels of aggression across groups. Each group consisted of 12 girls and 12 boys.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Independent and Dependent Variables

There were four independent variables:

• Presence of a model (present or not)
• Model's behaviour (aggressive or non-aggressive)
• Model's sex (same or opposite to the child's sex)
• Child's sex (male or female)

The dependent variable measured was the child's behaviour; this included physical and verbal aggression and the number of times the child used a mallet. The researchers also measured how many imitative and non-imitative behaviours children engaged in.

Albert Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment Steps

Let's look at the Albert Bandura bobo doll experiment steps.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Stage 1

In the first stage, the experimenter led children into a room with toys, where they could play with stamps and stickers. Children were also exposed to an adult model playing in another corner of the room during this time; this stage lasted 10 minutes.

There were three experimental groups; the first group saw a model act aggressively, the second group saw a non-aggressive model, and the third group did not see a model. In the first two groups, half were exposed to a same-sex model the other half observed a model of the opposite sex.

Group 1 : Children watched an aggressive model. The adult model engaged in scripted aggressive behaviour toward an inflatable Bobo doll in front of the children.

For example, the model would hit the doll with a hammer and throw it in the air. They would also use verbal aggression by screaming things like “hit him!”.

Group 2 : Children watched a non-aggressive model. This group saw the model enter the room and play unobtrusively and quietly with a tinker toy set.

Group 3 : The last group was a control group that was not exposed to any model.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Stage 2

The researchers brought each child separately to a room with attractive toys in the second stage. As soon as the child started playing with one of the toys, the experimenter stopped them, explaining that these toys were special and reserved for other children.

This phase was referred to as mild aggression arousal, and its purpose was to induce frustration in children.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Stage 3

In stage three , each child was placed in a separate room with aggressive toys and some non-aggressive toys. They were left alone with the toys in the room for approximately 20 minutes while researchers observed them through a one-way mirror and assessed their behaviour.

R esearchers also noted which children's behaviour was imitative of the model's behaviour and which were new (non-imitative).

Findings of B andura Bobo Doll 1961 Experiment

We'll examine how each independent variable influenced children's behaviour.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Presence of the model

Some children in the control group (that didn't see the model) showed aggression, such as hammer hitting or gunplay.

The control condition showed lower aggression than the group that saw an aggressive model and slightly higher aggression than the one that saw a non-aggressive model.

Bandura Bobo Doll: Model's behaviour

The group that saw an aggressive model displayed the most aggressive behaviour compared to the other two groups.

Children who observed the aggressive model displayed both imitative and non-imitative aggression (aggressive acts not displayed by the model).

Bandura Bobo Doll: Model's sex

Girls displayed more physical aggression after watching an aggressive male model but showed more verbal aggression when the model was female.

Boys imitated the aggressive male models more than when observing aggressive female models.

Child's sex

Boys showed more physical aggression than girls.

Verbal aggression was similar for girls and boys.

Conclusion of B andura Bobo Doll 1961 Experiment

Bandura concluded that children could learn from the observation of adult models. Children tended to imitate what they saw the adult model do. This suggests that learning can occur without reinforcement (rewards and punishments). These findings led Bandura to develop the Social Learning Theory.

The Social Learning Theory highlights the importance of one's social context in learning. It proposes that learning can occur through observation and imitation of other people.

The findings also suggest that boys are more likely to engage in aggressive behaviour, Bandura et al. (1961) linked this to cultural expectations. Since it's more culturally acceptable for boys to be aggressive, this could influence children's behaviour, resulting in the sex differences that we see in the experiment.

This could also explain why children of both sexes were more likely to imitate physical aggression when the model was male; it is more acceptable to see a male model act physically aggressive, which could encourage imitation.

Verbal aggression was similar in girls and boys; this was linked to the fact that verbal aggression is culturally acceptable for both sexes.

In the case of verbal aggression, we also see that same-sex models were more influential. Bandura explained that identification with the model, which often occurs when the model is similar to us, can encourage greater imitation.

Bandura Bobo Doll Experiment: Evaluation

One strength of Bandura's experiment is that it was conducted in a laboratory where researchers could control and manipulate the variables. This allows researchers to establish the cause and effect of a phenomenon.

Bandura’s (1961) study also used a standardised procedure, which allowed replication of the study. Bandura himself repeated the study several times in the 1960s, with slight changes in the phases. The study findings remained consistent throughout the replications, suggesting the findings had high reliability.

One limitation of Bandura's experiment is that it only tested children right after exposure to the model. It is, therefore unclear whether the children engaged in behaviours they 'learnt' ever again after leaving the laboratory.

Other studies also suggest that imitation in this study could be due to the novelty of the Bobo doll. It's likely that the children have never played with a Bobo doll before, which made them more likely to imitate the way they saw a model play with it.

Replication of Bandura’s Research in 1965

In 1965, Bandura and Walter repeated this study, but with slight modifications.

They investigated whether the consequences of the model's behaviour would influence imitation.

The experiment showed children were more likely to imitate the model's behaviour if they saw a model be rewarded for it than when they saw the model be punished or those who faced no consequences.

Albert Bandura B obo Doll Experiment Ethical Issues

The Bobo doll experiment prompted ethical concerns. For starters, children were not protected from harm, as the observed hostility could have upset the children. Furthermore, the violent behaviour they learned in the experiment may have stayed with them and caused later behavioural issues.

The children were unable to give informed consent or withdraw from the study and would be stopped by the researchers if they tried to leave. There was no attempt to debrief them about the study later or explain to them that the adult was merely acting.

Nowadays, these ethical issues would prevent researchers from carrying out the study if it was to be replicated.

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment: Summary

In summary, Bandura's Bobo doll experiment demonstrated social learning of aggression in children in a laboratory environment.

The behaviour of the adult model that children watched subsequently influenced the children's behaviour. The children who watched an aggressive model displayed the greatest number of aggressive behaviours across experimental groups.

These findings support Bandura's Social Learning Theory, which highlights the importance of our social environment in learning. This study also made people more aware of the potential influence of the behaviours that children are exposed to on how they'll behave.

Bandura Bobo Doll - Key takeaways

Bandura sought to investigate whether children can learn aggressive behaviours solely from observing adults.

Children who participated in Bandura's study saw an adult play aggressively with a doll, in a non-aggressive way or didn't see a model at all.

Bandura concluded that children could learn from the observation of adult models. The group that saw the aggressive model displayed the most aggression, while the group that saw the non-aggressive model displayed the least aggression.

The strengths of Bandura's study are that it was a controlled laboratory experiment, which used a standardised procedure and has been successfully replicated.

However, it's uncertain whether the imitation was caused only due to the novelty of the Bobo doll and whether it had a long-term effect on children's behaviour. Moreover, there are some ethical criticisms of the study design.

• Albert Bandura, Influence of models’ reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses. Journal of personality and social psychology , 1(6), 1965
• Fig. 3 - Bobo Doll Deneyi by Okhanm is licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Frequently Asked Questions about Bandura Bobo Doll

What are the strengths of the Bobo doll experiment?

It used a controlled laboratory experiment, a standardised procedure was used, and similar results were found when the study was replicated. 

What did the Bobo doll experiment prove?

It supported the conclusion that children can learn new behaviours through observation and imitation.

What did Bandura’s models say to the Bobo doll?

Aggressive models would use verbal aggression and say things like "Hit him down!" to the Bobo Doll.

Are cause and effect established with Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment?

Yes, cause and effect can be established because the Albert Bandura bobo doll experiment steps were carried out in a controlled laboratory experiment. 

Was the Bandura Bobo doll experiment biased?

The study can be seen as biased due to the sample used. The sample might not represent all children, as it only included children attending the Stanford University nursery.

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What the Bobo Doll Experiment Reveals About Kids and Aggression

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily Swaim is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, and Vox.

• The Experiment

The question of how children learn to engage in violent behavior has been of great interest to parents and researchers alike. In the 1960s, psychologist Albert Bandura and his colleagues conducted what is now known as the Bobo doll experiment, and they demonstrated that children may learn aggression through observation.

Aggression lies at the root of many social ills ranging from interpersonal violence to war. It is little wonder, then, that the subject is one of the most studied topics within psychology.

This article covers what the Bobo doll experiment is, its findings on childhood aggression, as well as its impact on psychology.

The Bobo Doll Experiment

The participants for the experiment were 36 boys and 36 girls enrolled at the Stanford University Nursery School. The children ranged in age between 3 and almost 6 years.

The experiment involved exposing one group of 24 children to an adult modeling aggressive behavior, and another group of 24 children to an adult modeling non-aggressive behavior. The final group of 24 children acted as the control group that was not exposed to adult models.

These groups were divided again into groups of boys and girls. Each of these subgroups was then divided so that half of the participants would be exposed to a same-sex adult model and the other half would be exposed to an opposite-sex adult model.

Each child was tested individually to ensure that their behavior would not be influenced by other children. The child was first brought into a playroom where there were a number of different activities to explore. The experimenter then invited the adult model into the playroom.

In the non-aggressive condition, the adult model simply played with the toys and ignored the Bobo doll for the entire period. In the aggressive model condition, however, the adult models would violently attack the Bobo doll.

The aggressive models would punch Bobo, strike Bobo with a mallet, toss the doll in the air, and kick it around the room. They would also use " verbally aggressive phrases" such as "Kick him" and "Pow." The models also added two non-aggressive phrases: "He sure is a tough fella" and "He keeps coming back for more."

After the ten-minute exposure to the adult model, each child was then taken to another room that contained a number of appealing toys including a doll set, fire engine, and toy airplane.

The children were permitted to play for a brief two minutes, then told they were no longer allowed to play with any of these tempting toys. The purpose of this was to build up frustration levels among the young participants.

Finally, each child was taken to the last experimental room. This room contained a number of "aggressive" toys including a mallet, a tether ball with a face painted on it, dart guns, and, of course, a Bobo doll. The room also included several "non-aggressive" toys including crayons, paper, dolls, plastic animals, and trucks.

Each child was then allowed to play in this room for a period of 20 minutes. During this time, researchers observed the child's behavior from behind a one-way mirror and judged each child's levels of aggression.

Predictions

Bandura made several key predictions about what would occur during the Bobo doll experiment.

• Boys would behave more aggressively than girls.
• Children who observed an adult acting aggressively would be likely to act aggressively, even when the adult model was not present.
• Children would be more likely to imitate models of the same sex rather than models of the opposite sex.
• The children who observed the non-aggressive adult model would be less aggressive than the children who observed the aggressive model; the non-aggressive exposure group would also be less aggressive than the control group.

The results of the experiment supported some of the original predictions, but also included some unexpected findings:

• Bandura and his colleagues had predicted that children in the non-aggressive group would behave less aggressively than those in the control group. The results indicated that while children of both genders in the non-aggressive group did tend to exhibit less aggression than the control group, boys who had observed a non-aggressive, opposite-sex model were more likely than those in the control group to engage in violence.
• Children exposed to the violent model tended to imitate the exact behavior they had observed when the adult model was no longer present.
• Researchers were correct in their prediction that boys would behave more aggressively than girls. Boys engaged in more than twice as many acts of physical aggression than the girls.
• There were important gender differences when it came to whether a same-sex or opposite-sex model was observed. Boys who observed adult males behaving violently were more influenced than those who had observed female models behaving aggressively.
• Interestingly, the experimenters found in same-sex aggressive groups, boys were more likely to imitate physical acts of violence while girls were more likely to imitate verbal aggression.

Impact of the Bobo Doll Experiment

Results of the experiment supported Bandura's social learning theory.

According to Bandura's social learning theory, learning occurs through observations and interactions with other people. Essentially, people learn by watching others and then imitating these actions.

Bandura and his colleagues believed that the Bobo doll experiment demonstrates how specific behaviors can be learned through observation and imitation.

According to Bandura, the violent behavior of the adult models toward the dolls led children to believe that such actions were acceptable.

Bandura also suggested that as a result, children may be more inclined to respond to frustration with aggression in the future.

In a follow-up study conducted in 1965, Bandura found that while children were more likely to imitate aggressive behavior if the adult model was rewarded for his or her actions, they were far less likely to imitate if they saw the adult model being punished or reprimanded for their hostile behavior.

The conclusions drawn from the Bobo doll experiment may help explain human behavior in many areas of life. For instance, the idea that children will imitate the abusive behavior that they witness may provide insight into domestic violence .

Adolescents who grow up witnessing abuse in their homes may be more likely to display violent behavior themselves, and view aggression as an appropriate response to solve interpersonal problems.

Research has found that the Bobo doll experiment and its follow-up study shed light on bullying . For instance, when leadership doesn't give negative consequences for workplace bullying, the bullying is more likely to persist.

Therefore, it's important that aggressive or violent behavior is not tolerated by those with power—whether it's at the workplace, in schools, or at home—or else the aggression is likely to continue and may influence young people who witness it.

Criticism of the Bobo Doll Experiment

Critics point out that acting violently toward a doll is a lot different than displaying aggression or violence against another human being in a real-world setting.

In other words, a child acting violently toward a doll doesn't necessarily indicate they'll act violently toward a person.

Because the experiment took place in a lab setting, some critics suggest that results observed in this type of location may not be indicative of what takes place in the real world.

It has also been suggested that children were not actually motivated to display aggression when they hit the Bobo doll; instead, they may have simply been trying to please the adults. It's worth noting that the children didn't actually hurt the Bobo doll, nor did they think they were hurting it.

In addition, by intentionally frustrating the children, some argue that the experimenters were essentially teaching the children to be aggressive.

It's also not known whether the children were actually aggressive or simply imitating the behavior without aggressive intent (most children will imitate behavior right after they see it, but they don't necessarily continue it in the long term).

Since data was collected immediately, it is also difficult to know what the long-term impact might have been.

Additional criticisms note the biases of the researchers. Since they knew that the children were already frustrated, they may have been more likely to interpret the children's actions as aggressive.

The study may also suffer from selection bias. All participants were drawn from a narrow pool of students who share the same racial and socioeconomic background. This makes it difficult to generalize the results to a larger, more diverse population.

A Word From Verywell

Bandura's experiment remains one of the most well-known studies in psychology. Today, social psychologists continue to study the impact of observed violence on children's behavior. In the decades since the Bobo doll experiment, there have been hundreds of studies on how observing violence impacts children's behavior.

Today, researchers continue to ponder the question of whether the violence children witness on television, in the movies, or through video games translates to aggressive or violent behavior in the real world.

Bandura A. Influence of models' reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1965;1:589-595. doi:10.1037/h0022070

Xia Y, Li S, Liu TH. The interrelationship between family violence, adolescent violence, and adolescent violent victimization: An application and extension of the cultural spillover theory in China . IJERPH. 2018;15(2):371. doi:10.3390/ijerph15020371

Hollis LP. Lessons from Bandura’s Bobo doll experiments: Leadership’s deliberate indifference exacerbates workplace bullying in higher education . JSPTE. 2019;4:085-102. doi:10.28945/4426

Altin D, Jablonski J, Lyke J, et al. Gender difference in perceiving aggression using the Bobo doll studies . Modern Psychological Studies. 2011;16:2.

Bandura A, Ross D, Ross SA. Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models . Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 1961;63:575-82. doi:10.1037/h0045925

Ferguson CJ. Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can violent video games be a force for good? Review of General Psychology. 2010;14(2) : 68-81. doi:10.1037/a0018941

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

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Key Study: Bandura’s Bobo Doll (1963)

Travis Dixon January 15, 2019 Criminology , Developmental Psychology , Key Studies , Social and Cultural Psychology , Studies and Theories

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Introduction

In one of his earlier research studies (1961), Bandura showed that children exposed to an aggressive model would later copy those same aggressive behaviours, even if the child was in a different setting. This supports the idea that behavior can be learned through observation, which is the major claim of Social Learning Theory (SLT). TV and films have become the source of popular debate surrounding violence in today’s society. In 1963, Bandura aimed to “determine the extent to which film-mediated aggressive models may serve as an important source of imitative behavior.”

Albert Bandura (1925->)

Bandura hypothesized that the further from reality the model the less influence they would have on the subjects (i.e. the children). So they used clips from cartoons, filmed humans behaving aggressively and also “real life” human models. The latter, Bandura hypothesized, would have the greatest influence on the subjects. Bandura also believed that the gender of the model would also affect the level of imitation of the behavior.

Methodology

The participants were 48 boys and 48 girls, who were from about 3 to 5 ½ years old, with an average age of about 4, all of whom were students at the Stanford University Nursery School.  They used male and female models. The experiment used matched pairs using ratings of aggressiveness that were obtained with help from their nursery school teacher. For each condition, half of the children observed a model of the same gender while the other half observed a model of the opposite gender.

Real Life Aggression Condition : The child was brought into a small room and placed in a corner with a desk and chair that had colored paper, stickers, and other materials to design pictures. The model (an adult) was taken to the other corner and the child was told this was the model’s play area. It contained small toys, a mallet and a 5 foot tall inflatable bobo doll. The model began by playing with the toys but after one minute they started acting aggressively towards the doll in ways that are quite strange and would be unlikely for a child to behave naturally (i.e. without first seeing someone else behave that way). E.g. the model sat on the doll and punched it in the nose, it raised the doll and hit its head with the mallet, it threw it about the room and kicked it. This was also accompanied by verbally aggressive statements, such as “hit him down,” “sock him in the nose,” “pow”, etc.

Human Film-Aggression Condition: The set-up was the same as the above condition, except instead of a real-life model they used a projector and a sound track to show a film of (the same) models behaving exactly the same way as they did in the previous condition. The film showed for ten minutes.

Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study is one of the most famous studies in social psychology. It challenged the existing view that behaviour came from internal forces and showed that it can be influenced by copying the behaviour of those around us.

Cartoon Film-Aggression: Everything was the same as the other two conditions from the child’s point of view, except the film was now made to look like a cartoon of a cat who performed the same aggressive behaviours as the human models (i.e. punching a bobo doll, throwing it in the air, etc.). 

Control Group: Viewed no aggressive behavior. They went straight to the test room.

After being in the room and observing the aggressive behaviours, the children were lead to the test room. In order to frustrate the children and instigate aggressive tendencies (to replicate real-life situations that lead to violence), the experimenter lead the child into the test room that was filled with toys. After the child began playing with the toys, the experimenter said that they were her very best toys and she was reserving them for different children. The child was then taken to the next room and the experimenter busied herself in the corner with paperwork, so as to not interfere with the child. In this room there were the same objects that the models had in the viewing part of the experiment (i.e. a bobo doll, mallet, etc.) The room also contained non-aggressive toys, such as a tea set, bears, dolls, farm animals, etc.

Each subject spent 20 minutes in the experimental room, during which time their behavior was observed by judges who were looking through a one-way mirror. The results demonstrated a high level of inter-rater reliability. The 20 minutes was divided into 5 second intervals, and the judges noted each aggressive behavior that occurred in those intervals. Thus, if the child was aggressive for the whole time, their would be 240 aggressive acts.

The judges looked for “imitative aggression,” “partially imitative responses”, “mallet aggression”, “sits on bobo doll”, “nonimitative aggression” and “aggressive gun play”.

The mean number of aggressive acts for each condition:

Real life = 83 Film Model = 92 Cartoon = 99 Control = 54

Overall, the boys displayed more violent behaviors than the girls in all conditions. However, the girls were more inclined to sit on the bobo doll than the boys. The gender of the model was also an influential factor. For example, children that watched the male model were more inclined to use “aggressive gun play”, even though the model didn’t use the gun. The results also showed that the sex appropriateness of the model’s behavior also influenced the likelihood that the subject would imitate that behavior. For example, boys who watched the female model were more likely to sit on the bobo doll and not punch it in the nose. Thus, social learning depends on whether or not the child believes the model is acting appropriately for their gender.

There was not a statistically significant correlation between pre-experiment tests of aggressive behavior and levels of aggression displayed during the experiment.

Critical Thinking Questions

• Were Bandura’s hypotheses correct? What conclusions do you think he drew? ( Analysis )
• How can these results be used to explain and support Social Learning Theory? ( Application )
• What are the ethical considerations involved in this experiment? ( Analysis )
• What alternative explanations could there be for these results? ( Synthesis )
• What are the strengths and limitations of this experiment? ( Evaluation ) For example, how did his use of matched pairs control for confounding variables? Are there reasons why we might not expect these same results today, or in different groups of people?

Bandura, Albert. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol.1, No.6, June 1965 (accessed from uky.edu)

Travis Dixon is an IB Psychology teacher, author, workshop leader, examiner and IA moderator.

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Understanding The Bobo Doll Experiment by Bandura

Have you ever thought about how much of our actions are our own? Or how much we pick up by watching others? Albert Bandura’s famous Bobo Doll Experiment in the 1960s looked into this. It showed how kids can start acting aggressively by watching adults.

This study changed how we see learning and growing up. It showed the big role of watching others in our actions. It also made us think about how media and what we see around us affects kids.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways

• The Bobo Doll Experiment involved 36 boys and 36 girls aged 3 to 6 from Stanford University.
• Children exposed to aggressive models displayed significantly more aggression than those in non-aggressive or control groups.
• Gender differences were noted in imitation of aggressive behaviors, with boys more likely to imitate physical aggression .
• The study highlighted the powerful impact of observational learning on children’s behavior patterns.
• Bandura’s findings have far-reaching implications for understanding aggression and development in various societal contexts.

Introduction to the Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment was a key study in the 1960s. It looked at how kids learn from watching others. Albert Bandura wanted to see if kids could pick up aggressive behaviors by watching adults act out.

This came as concerns grew about how media violence affects kids. The study aimed to explore its impact on child development .

For the experiment, 72 kids from a nursery school at Stanford University took part. Bandura found that kids who saw adults being violent towards a Bobo doll acted the same way later. This showed how important role models are in shaping kids’ actions.

Bandura noticed big differences in how boys and girls acted out. Boys were more aggressive, showing 270 acts of aggression. Girls showed 128 acts when they saw aggressive men. These findings are key to understanding how gender affects child development and aggression.

Bandura’s study showed how watching others can teach kids to act aggressively. This research is still important today. It helps us see how society affects young people’s behavior.

Background on Albert Bandura

Albert Bandura is a famous psychologist who changed the field of psychology. He was born on December 4, 1925, in Mundare, Alberta, Canada. Throughout his career, he came up with important ideas like social learning theory . This theory shows how we learn new behaviors by watching and copying others.

The Bobo doll experiment in 1961 was a key moment in his work. In this study, young children acted aggressively after seeing adults do the same to a toy. This showed how watching others can lead to aggressive behavior in kids.

Bandura also looked into self-efficacy , which is believing in our own abilities. He found that what we believe we can do affects how we act and feel. His work has won him many awards, like the American Psychological Association’s top honor in 2004 and the National Medal of Science in 2014.

Albert Bandura’s research and theories have changed how we see behavior. He’s considered one of the top psychologists of the 20th century. His ideas still shape education and psychology today.

The Purpose of The Bobo Doll Experiment (Bandura)

The Bobo Doll Experiment aimed to see if kids learn aggression by watching others. Albert Bandura wanted to know if kids copy what they see in others. He wanted to see how watching aggressive behavior changes how kids act with others.

Aim of the Experiment

Bandura wanted to find out how seeing aggression affects kids’ actions. He showed different kids various models to see how aggressive or non-aggressive they became. The study had 36 boys and 36 girls, aged 3 to 6, in three groups.

One group saw an aggressive model, another a non-aggressive model, and a third group nothing. Bandura looked at how aggressive the kids became after watching these models.

Importance of Observational Learning

This study showed how important watching others is in shaping kids’ actions. Kids who saw aggressive models acted aggressively too. This proved a strong link between what kids see and how they behave.

Bandura found boys and girls reacted differently. Boys were more likely to hit, while girls used words more often, based on what they saw.

Some critics say the study’s setup doesn’t match real life. They wonder about the lasting impact of learning aggression from others. Yet, Bandura’s work is key in understanding how kids learn from their surroundings.

Methodology of The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment showed how watching others affects kids’ actions. It used a careful plan to watch how kids acted in a controlled setting. By looking at who took part and how the study was set up, we learned a lot about how kids learn from each other.

Participant Overview

Seventy-two kids from the Stanford University Nursery School took part, with 36 boys and 36 girls. They were between 3 and 6 years old. Before the study started, each child’s level of aggression was checked. This made sure the groups were even, helping us see how watching others affects them.

Experimental Design

The study used a controlled lab setup, splitting the kids into three groups. One group saw aggressive models, another saw non-aggressive ones, and a third group didn’t see any models. This design showed how different behaviors can shape kids’ actions. By matching kids based on their initial aggression, the study could focus on the impact of aggression itself.

Stages of the Experiment

The experiment had three main parts: modeling, making aggression happen, and testing for delayed imitation. In the modeling stage, kids watched either aggressive or calm behaviors from adults. Then, they were provoked to see if they would act aggressively. Finally, they were watched to see if they would imitate what they saw. This careful plan helped us understand how kids learn from each other.

Results and Findings of The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment by Albert Bandura showed us how children react when they see aggressive or non-aggressive actions. This study was key in understanding imitative aggression and how gender affects behavior. It showed that kids act differently based on what they see others do.

Imitative Aggression

The study found that kids who saw aggressive actions were more likely to act aggressively themselves. When kids watched adults being aggressive, they acted the same way with the Bobo doll. This shows how important it is to watch what we do around kids.

Gender Differences in Behavior

Girls and boys showed different behaviors in the study. Boys were more likely to hit the Bobo doll when they saw a male model do it. Girls, on the other hand, used more words to show aggression when they saw a female model. This shows how the gender of the model affects kids’ actions.

This study shows how what we do affects kids’ behavior. It’s important to be good role models for them. We should show them both aggressive and kind behaviors.

Social Learning Theory Explained

Albert Bandura developed Social Learning Theory . It shows how watching others helps us learn new behaviors. This theory helps us understand how people pick up new actions by observing others. It looks at how learning happens in social settings and sheds light on child development .

Key Concepts of Social Learning Theory

Social Learning Theory is built on five main ideas that help us grasp how we learn from others:

• Attention: We must watch others to learn from them.
• Retention: Remembering what we see is key to acting it out.
• Reproduction: We need to be able to copy what we observe.
• Motivation: Wanting to imitate what we see makes learning more likely.
• Reinforcement and Punishment: Seeing what happens after a behavior affects if we’ll do it too.

Implications for Child Development

Social Learning Theory has big implications for how kids grow and develop. The Bobo Doll experiment showed kids might act out what they see, especially if it’s the same gender. Boys were more likely to act aggressively than girls, copying what they saw in male models. Seeing aggressive actions without punishment made kids more likely to act aggressively too.

It’s important to give kids good role models because seeing aggression can make them act aggressively too. Kids learn from what they see in media, like movies and cartoons. This shows how important their environment is in shaping their behavior.

Critiques and Limitations of The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment was a major study, but it has faced many critiques. People question its accuracy and ethics, especially how it treated children. These concerns show the limits of lab studies in showing real human behavior and the ethics of using kids.

Existence of Low Ecological Validity

Many say the experiment didn’t truly reflect real life because it was done in a lab. The setup didn’t match real social situations, leading to unrealistic behaviors. This might have made kids act differently than they would in real life.

Also, the study might not have captured the full picture of learning from others. Things like testosterone levels could affect how aggressive kids are. So, the study mainly looked at what kids did, not why they did it in real situations.

Ethical Considerations

There are big ethical worries about the experiment. Showing kids aggressive acts could have hurt them emotionally. Some think Bandura didn’t look closely enough at how these kids felt or might feel later.

Rules for research stress keeping people safe from harm. This makes people question if the experiment was right to do.

Impact of the Bobo Doll Experiment on Psychological Research

The Bobo Doll Experiment has deeply influenced psychological research . It showed how observing others affects our actions and behavior. This work by Bandura highlighted how children learn aggression from others.

It also set the stage for more studies on how our environment shapes our actions. These findings are key to understanding aggression and its causes.

Influence on Future Studies

Many future studies have built on the Bobo Doll Experiment’s insights. They’ve looked at how media and others affect kids’ behavior. The results showed that kids act more aggressively when they see others do so.

This led to more research on imitation and aggression in different situations. It’s helped us understand why some kids act out more than others.

Sociocultural Implications

The experiment also shed light on how society influences our actions. It showed that boys tend to be more physically aggressive after seeing it. Girls and boys, however, imitate aggressive talk equally.

This knowledge helps us talk about how culture affects how we act in different places. It’s important for understanding behavior in various social settings.

Real-world Applications of Bandura’s Findings

Bandura’s research shows us how media violence affects us in real life. It tells us that watching violent media can make kids more aggressive. This is a big concern because kids might act out what they see on TV or in movies.

Media Violence and Behavior

Studies show that kids who watch violent shows or movies can become more aggressive. For example, boys who saw a male model being aggressive acted out by hitting a Bobo doll 25.8 times on average. Girls were also affected, showing 7.2 aggressive acts when they saw a girl being aggressive.

This shows us how important it is to watch what kids watch on TV or in movies. It helps to stop aggressive behavior before it starts.

Bullying and Aggression

Bandura’s work also looks at how kids learn to bully from what they see. When kids see others being mean, they might start acting the same way. For instance, boys who didn’t see aggressive behavior acted out only 1.5 times, showing the impact of positive role models.

This tells us that schools and homes should teach kids to be kind and not aggressive. By doing this, we can help stop bullying and make everyone feel safe.

The Legacy of The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment has left a lasting mark on psychology. It shows us how aggressive behaviors are learned. Albert Bandura’s work laid the groundwork for more research, especially on media’s effect on us.

This study’s findings are still important today. They help us understand how kids learn from what they see. It’s a key part of growing up.

Continued Research and Observations

Today, researchers are still looking into aggressive behavior. They study how kids interact with digital media and its effects. The study confirms that we learn by imitating others, just like Bandura said.

This research helps us tackle social issues today. It shows how important it is to watch what we do. The Bobo Doll Experiment’s legacy keeps us thinking about how we act.

Enduring Relevance in Psychology

Bandura’s work has changed how we see psychology. It’s made us think about how our thoughts, actions, and environment interact. Social learning theory is a big part of psychology now.

It helps in treating mental health issues like cognitive-behavioral therapy. By using role models and imitation, therapists can help people change for the better. Bandura’s research is still guiding us towards positive changes.

The Bobo Doll Experiment showed us a lot about aggression. Albert Bandura did a study with 72 children. He found that kids copy aggressive actions they see in others.

He noticed that kids act differently if the model is a boy or a girl, and if the child is a boy or a girl. This shows how complex it is to understand why kids act the way they do.

The study was very reliable, with a score of 0.89. This means the results are trustworthy. The findings are important for teachers, parents, and society. They help us see how media and what we see around us can affect kids.

Some people have pointed out some issues with the study. But the main ideas from the Bobo Doll Experiment are still important. It helps us understand why some kids might act aggressively.

This study encourages more research and ways to help kids behave better. It’s a key part of talking about how kids grow and what they see in the media.

The eSoft Editorial Team, a blend of experienced professionals, leaders, and academics, specializes in soft skills, leadership, management, and personal and professional development. Committed to delivering thoroughly researched, high-quality, and reliable content, they abide by strict editorial guidelines ensuring accuracy and currency. Each article crafted is not merely informative but serves as a catalyst for growth, empowering individuals and organizations. As enablers, their trusted insights shape the leaders and organizations of tomorrow.

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Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo Doll Experiment was performed in 1961 by Albert Bandura, to try and add credence to his belief that all human behavior was learned, through social imitation and copying, rather than inherited through genetic factors.

This article is a part of the guide:

• Social Psychology Experiments
• Milgram Experiment
• Stanford Prison Experiment
• Asch Experiment
• Milgram Experiment Ethics

Browse Full Outline

• 1 Social Psychology Experiments
• 2.1 Asch Figure
• 3 Bobo Doll Experiment
• 4 Good Samaritan Experiment
• 5 Stanford Prison Experiment
• 6.1 Milgram Experiment Ethics
• 7 Bystander Apathy
• 8 Sherif’s Robbers Cave
• 9 Social Judgment Experiment
• 10 Halo Effect
• 11 Thought-Rebound
• 12 Ross’ False Consensus Effect
• 13 Interpersonal Bargaining
• 14 Understanding and Belief
• 15 Hawthorne Effect
• 16 Self-Deception
• 17 Confirmation Bias
• 18 Overjustification Effect
• 19 Choice Blindness
• 20.1 Cognitive Dissonance
• 21.1 Social Group Prejudice
• 21.2 Intergroup Discrimination
• 21.3 Selective Group Perception

These findings are still debated about over 40 years later.

In the modern world, there are many concerns about the effect of social influences on the development and growth of a child's personality and morality.

Television, computer games, food additives, music and the lack of role models are all cited as reasons for a supposed breakdown in society, and an increased tendency towards violence.

These concerns have existed for many years, even before the media turned these factors into sensationalist stories, to try and sell more newspapers. During the 1960's, there was a lot of concern and debate about whether a child's development was down to genetics, environmental factors or social learning from others around them.

For this purpose, Bandura designed the Bobo Doll Experiment to try and prove that children would copy an adult role model's behavior. He wanted to show, by using aggressive and non-aggressive actors, that a child would tend to imitate and learn from the behavior of a trusted adult.

The Bobo doll is an inflatable toy about five feet tall, designed to spring back upright when knocked over.

Children were chosen as subjects for the study, because they have less social conditioning; they have also had less instruction and teaching of the rules of society than adult subjects.

Hypotheses and Predictions

Bandura had a number of predictions about the outcomes of the Bobo Doll Experiment, fitting with his views on the theories of social learning.

• Children witnessing an adult role model behaving in an overly aggressive manner would be likely to replicate similar behavior themselves, even if the adult was not present.
• Subjects who had observed a non-aggressive adult would be the least likely to show violent tendencies, even if the adult was not present. They would be even less likely to exhibit this type of aggression than the control group of children, who had seen no role model at all.
• Bandura believed that children would be much more likely to copy the behavior of a role model of the same sex. He wanted to show that it was much easier for a child to identify and interact with an adult of the same gender.
• The final prediction was that male children would tend to be more aggressive than female children, because society has always tolerated and advocated violent behavior in men more than women.

Setting Up the Experiment

For the Bobo Doll Experiment, Bandura selected a number of children from the local Stanford Nursery School, varying in age from 3 to 6 years, with the average age being 4 years and 4 months.

To test the prediction that boys would be more prone to aggression than girls, he picked 36 subjects of each sex.

The control group , which would not see an adult role model at all, consisted of 24 children, 12 boys and 12 girls.

The second group, which would be exposed to an adult showing aggressive tendencies, was similarly made up of 24 children of either sex. Both of the resulting groups of 12 were further divided; half would be tested with a female role model, half with a male role model.

The third group was structured in exactly the same way as the second, the only difference being that they would be exposed to a passive adult.

For the Bobo Doll Experiment, it was necessary to pre-select and sort the children, to try and ensure that there was an even spread of personality types across the test groups; some subjects already known to be more aggressive in personality than others.

For this, one of the teachers from the nursery worked with the experimenter, to rate each child's personality and attempt to construct well balanced groups.

It must also be noted that each subject was tested alone and individually, to ensure that the effects and reactions of their classmates would bear no influence on the final results or findings of the experiment.

The Bobo Doll Experiment proper began by placing one of the children from the test groups in a room with an adult. The subject sat in one corner of the room, with a few appealing toys to play with, such as potato prints and sticker activities.

The adult sat in the other corner of the room, with a few toys, as well as a Bobo doll and mallet. The child was not permitted to play or interact with these toys.

For the children in group two, after one minute of playing with the toys, the adult would begin to verbally and physically attack the doll for a period of 10 minutes.

For the third group tested, the adult would sit quietly and play peacefully with the toys for ten minutes.

The control group, of course, sat in the room for ten minutes with no adult present.

The next stage of the Bobo Doll Experiment was to take the subject into another room, which was filled with interesting toys. The child was not permitted to play with these toys, being told that they were reserved for other children to play with. This was intended to build up the levels of frustration within the subject.

The child was then taken into yet another room filled with interesting toys, some of an aggressive type, some non-aggressive; the room also contained the Bobo doll and the mallet. The subject was watched through a one-way mirror, and a number of types of behavior were assessed.

The first factor measured was physical aggression, consisting of hitting the doll with the mallet or punching, kicking or sitting on the doll.

Verbal aggression was also assessed, whether it was general abuse or an imitation of phrases used by the adult role-model.

The third measurement was the amount of times the mallet was used to display other forms of aggression than hitting the doll. The final behaviors studied were modes of aggression, shown by the subject, which were not direct imitations of the role-model's behavior.

The results for the Bobo Doll Experiment showed, as expected by prediction one, that children who were exposed to the aggressive model were more likely to show imitative aggressive behavior themselves.

Prediction four was proved correct in that boys were nearly three times more likely to replicate physically violent behavior than girls.

The measurements for verbally aggressive behavior again showed that children exposed to aggressive role models were more likely to imitate this behavior. The levels of verbal aggression expressed were about the same for boys and girls.

Subjects in the Bobo Doll Experiment exposed to the non-aggressive model, or no model at all, showed little imitative aggressive behavior. This finding partially proved prediction two, with children exposed to a passive role model showing less imitative aggression.

However, the results did not fully prove this prediction, as there was no discernible difference in the imitative aggression levels between groups one and three.

Male subjects exposed to non-aggressive role models were less likely to use the mallet to hit the Bobo doll. Strangely, male subjects placed with non-aggressive female models were more likely to use the mallet than the control group.

The findings of the Bobo Doll Experiment proved to be a little inconclusive with most of the predictions not being fully proved.

It is not certain that children learn socially, but it is likely that children observing an adult model utilizing violence are more likely to believe that this type of behavior is normal. They may, therefore, be more likely to use this type of action themselves when confronted by similar situations.

Bandura found that girls were much less likely to be physically violent, but were equally as prone to verbal aggression as boys. This is something often encountered in society, where bullying at school, by boys, is more often of a physical nature; intimidation amongst girls tends to be more verbal and social.

There were a few criticisms of the experiment; the Bobo doll springs back upright when it is hit and there is a strong possibility that the children saw it as a game rather than anything else.

There was a follow up experiment, in 1963, which used the same methodology but showed the subjects violence via video; this had a much less defined response than the initial experiment.

Another refinement of the Bobo Doll Experiment, in 1965, tried to establish the effects of rewarding or punishing bad and violent behavior. Children, who witnessed the model being punished for aggressive behavior, were much less likely to follow suit. Interestingly, there was no change in aggression when the model was rewarded for bad behavior.

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Martyn Shuttleworth (Mar 26, 2008). Bobo Doll Experiment. Retrieved Dec 23, 2024 from Explorable.com: https://explorable.com/bobo-doll-experiment

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