The Bobo Doll Experiment: Overview
In the study of child psychology and behaviour, one of the most prominent experiments was the Bobo doll experiment. This was defined to be a groundbreaking study that was led by Albert Bandura, a psychologist. The study concluded that children were able to learn and imitate the behaviour exhibited by adults. A team of researchers was gathered to conduct the experiment who then proceeded to verbally and physically abuse a certain inflatable doll in the presence of pre-school-aged children.
It led to the children mimicking the behaviour exhibited by the adults and they attacked the same doll in a similar manner. Here there is a detailed bobo doll experiment summary for the students to understand the topic better.
The Bobo Doll Experiment: Methodology
The bobo doll experiment was basically a normal study on aggressive behaviour that is seen in children. Albert Bandura is best known for this particular experiment. The bobo doll experiment was conducted at Stanford University in the year 1961. It was during that time that Bandura was a professor at the college. For the experiment, he made use of 1-meter and 1.5-meter inflatable toys that were known as Bobo dolls then.
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These dolls were then painted in order to resemble the cartoon clowns. They were bottom-weighted as well in order to make sure that they would pop back up when they got knocked down. Preschool kids were chosen to be the subject of the experiment and then 3 groups were created. One group would observe the aggressive model of behaviour, the other one would observe the nonaggressive model of behaviour and the 3rd group won’t be seeing any models of behaviour at all.
From these three groups, 6 other subgroups were created for the bobo doll experiment based on gender. Half of these subgroups would see a same-sex pattern and model of behaviour and the other half would see opposite-sex behaviour and pattern. The experiment had 3 stages.
The Different Stages of The Bobo Doll Experiment
For the first stage of the experiment, the children were gathered in the experimental room and made to sit at a table. They were presented with different diverting activities that are supposedly interesting to the kids such as prints, stickers, and pictures. The main purpose of that was to encourage more observation in the children. Then the behaviour models were stored in the opposite corner next to the table and chair containing a Tinkertoy set, a mallet, and the bobo doll. The children were asked to play with these materials. In the aggressive behaviour groups, the model would abuse the bobo dolls both physically and verbally. After some time, the behaviour models exited the room.
In the second stage, the children were individually taken to different experimental rooms and provided with other appealing toys such as trains, fire engines, airplanes, and others. In order to test the hypothesis of aggressive behaviour, the children were then told that they would only be allowed to play with the toys for just 2 minutes. After that, the children were asked to go to another room and asked to play with toys that were both of aggressive nature and of a non-aggressive nature.
The final stage of the experiment was just observing the behaviour of the children. In a time period of 20 minutes, it was seen that the aggressive behaviour exhibited by the children who were made to see the aggressive behaviour model was significantly higher in rates when compared to the ones who observed the non-aggressive model. The children who exhibited the aggressive behaviour would punch and kick the bobo doll and that proved that children were actually mimicking the behaviour of the model that they saw. The aftermath also showed that about 40% of the children retained their behaviour even after months had passed of the experiment.
The study proved to provide similar results when it came to gender. However, it was suggested that at least there were certain differences that were based on a certain degree to which these behaviours were exhibited. The behaviour was more appropriate and common for a specific gender. The study suggested that the rate of physical aggression was higher in the males when compared to the females. However, there was no difference when it came to verbal aggression as both the genders showed the same amount of aggression verbally.
The bobo doll experiment summary suggests that children are prone to mimic the behaviour that they see in adults. Hence, it was a very important form of experiment and study to prove that children raised in a more friendly and peaceful environment will show lesser signs of aggression than the ones who are raised in environments that are less peaceful and more aggressive.
FAQs on Bobo Doll Experiment
1. What exactly was the Bobo Doll experiment?
The Bobo Doll experiment, conducted by psychologist Albert Bandura in the 1960s, is a landmark study in psychology that demonstrated how children learn through observation. It tested the idea that children would imitate the aggressive or passive behaviours they witnessed in adult models towards an inflatable 'Bobo' doll. The experiment was fundamental in developing Bandura's Social Learning Theory, which posits that people learn from one another through observation, imitation, and modelling.
2. What were the main results of the Bobo Doll experiment?
The results clearly supported Bandura's hypothesis. Key findings include:
- Children who observed an aggressive adult model were significantly more likely to display both physical and verbal aggression towards the Bobo doll themselves.
- Children in the control group, who observed a non-aggressive model or no model at all, exhibited far less aggression.
- The experiment also found gender differences; boys were more likely to imitate same-sex models and displayed more physical aggression than girls, though levels of verbal aggression were similar.
3. What were the key steps or procedure followed in the Bobo Doll experiment?
The experiment was conducted in three main stages:
- Modelling: Children were individually exposed to one of three conditions: an adult model behaving aggressively towards the Bobo doll, an adult model playing passively, or no model at all.
- Aggression Arousal: To provoke a reaction, each child was then taken to another room with attractive toys but was told they were reserved for other children. This created a feeling of frustration.
- Observation/Test: Finally, the child was taken to a third room containing various toys, including the Bobo doll. Researchers observed the child's behaviour through a one-way mirror to see if they would imitate the aggression they had witnessed earlier.
4. What is the real-world importance of the Bobo Doll experiment?
The Bobo Doll experiment's importance extends far beyond the laboratory. It provided strong evidence for the impact of observational learning on behaviour. Its real-world implications are seen in discussions about:
- The effects of media violence on children, suggesting that exposure to aggressive content on TV or video games can lead to imitation.
- The critical role of parents, teachers, and peers as behavioural models.
- Understanding how social norms and behaviours, both positive and negative, are transmitted within a culture.
5. How does the Bobo Doll experiment explain the concept of observational learning?
The experiment is a classic demonstration of observational learning. It showed that learning does not require direct reinforcement or punishment, which challenged earlier behaviourist theories. Children learned complex aggressive behaviours simply by watching an adult model. They acquired a mental representation of the actions and their consequences (or lack thereof) and were able to reproduce them later, proving that learning can be a purely cognitive and social process.
6. What are the main criticisms or ethical issues associated with the Bobo Doll experiment?
Despite its significance, the experiment faces several criticisms. The most prominent is the ethical concern of deliberately exposing children to aggression and potentially teaching them harmful behaviours without knowing the long-term effects. Other criticisms include the artificiality of the setting—a laboratory is not a real-world environment, and a Bobo doll is specifically designed to be hit. Critics also question whether aggression towards a doll accurately predicts aggression towards another person.
7. In the context of Bandura's research, what is the difference between learning and performance?
This is a crucial distinction highlighted by Bandura's follow-up studies. Learning refers to the acquisition of knowledge or behaviour through observation, which can be a purely internal, cognitive process. Performance refers to the actual demonstration of that learned behaviour. The experiments showed that while most children learned the aggressive actions, they did not all perform them. Performance was often dependent on the perceived consequences—for example, if the children saw the model being rewarded, they were more likely to perform the aggressive acts themselves.
