Presentation on the study by Bandura (196

1. Bandura et al
EMMA

2. Aim
To see if children imitate modelled aggression in a new setting, and to investigate sex differences
based on the principles of social learning theory.

3. Procedure
The sample was of 72 children who attended Stanford University Nursery School. They ranged
from 3 to 5 years old.
The children were individually exposed to the adult model (aggressive/non-aggressive,
same/different sex) who displayed to behaviour appropriate to the condition which the child
was a part of.
Children were then briefly shown some attractive toys but then told they weren’t allowed to
play with them.
The children were then observed in a new room which contained both aggressive and non-
aggressive toys.

4. Link to crime
Witnessing aggressive behaviour as a child can lead to aggressive behaviour later in life.
Aggression is a characteristic commonly associated with crime and so it is likely that children
who see a lot of aggressive behaviour will get involved in criminal activity because that sort of
behaviour has been become normal to them so they don’t see a problem with it.

5. Results
Boys were found to be more physically aggressive than girls, girls were found to be more
verbally aggressive than boys.
Children in the aggressive condition acted more aggressively than the children in the non-
aggressive condition.
Girls in the aggressive condition displayed more physically aggressive actions if the model was
male and more verbal aggression if the model was female.
Boys are more likely to imitate a same sex model than girls.

6. Issues
Ecological validity  Mundane validity – low, not an everyday task to watch an adult acting
aggressively towards a doll. Psychological validity – high, the children were unaware they were
part of the study.
Ethics  the children may have been caused distress from seeing an adult acting aggressively,
witnessing this behaviour may have had a lasting psychological effect on them and potentially
lead to them being more aggressive later on in life.

7. Debates
Reductionist  only looks at the model aggression as the reason for the children’s aggression. It
ignores the influence of other factors e.g. biological – boys have more testosterone.
Psychology as a science  objectivity – standardised list of behaviours for the observers to look
out for, reliability – lab experiment, every child went through the same procedure, falsifiable –
other factors could have influenced the children’s behaviour e.g. individual differences.

8. Quiz Questions
1. Which university did the study take place in?
2. How many children participated in this study?
3. What type of experiment was this study?
4. Who was more physically aggressive?
5. What theory did Bandura develop from this study?

9. Answers
1. Stanford
2. 72
3. Lab experiment
4. Boys
5. The social learning theory