Detail_How_and_Why_Research_by_Bandura_and_Colleagues_on_Social_Learning_and_Aggression_Has_Contributed_to_Our_Understanding_of_Children’S_Behaviour

Aims and Objectives: • To gain an understanding of how the study was conducted • Learn why this has contributed to how to our understanding of children’s behaviour • Understand how the study has affected our understanding of children’s behaviour • To identify some of the key limitations of this type of study Introduction: In 1963 a study was conducted by Bandura et al. to determine the extent to which children would imitate aggressive behaviour that they saw performed by someone else. The study was conducted using 96 children, equal numbers of boys and girls of an average age of 4 years and 4 months. The experiment was conducted across three distinct play rooms each containing a variety of toys; the first was where the children would be exposed to the aggressive behaviour by a model. This behaviour was directed at a certain toy, a ‘bobo’ doll. The doll was kicked, punched, thrown in the air and sat on. In the second room the children were exposed to a situation designed to create a mild sense of frustration. The children were allowed to play with nice new toys a limited time before being told that they were no longer allowed to play with them as they were to be saved for other children. The third was where the child’s own behaviour would be monitored. The toys in the room included the ‘Bobo’ doll, which would be the focus of the aggressive behaviour that the children would be exposed to, a mallet, toy guns, a tea set, crayons and paper, and a wide range of other standard children’s toys. The children taking part in the study were broken down into four groups with 24 children per group, each group being exposed to a different type of aggressive behaviour: Group 1 – was accompanied by an adult who after a short while of playing would start to show aggressive behaviour towards the doll. Group 2 – was shown a video recording of an adult behaving aggressively toward the doll. Group 3 – was shown a cartoon of a fictional character (a cat) behaving aggressively towards the doll Group 4 – was shown no aggressive behaviour being performed. How and why this study contributed to understanding: The Bandura et al. study was one of the first of its kind, opening the door to further study and understanding of how children learn from the behaviour and gave an indication of how exposure to media violence could impact a child’s behaviour. The study did not however take into account time, the children’s behaviour was monitored a short time after exposure and no check was done to assess the length of time that the children would continue to be affected by the aggressive behaviour. This study showed Psychologists at the time that when a child is exposed to aggressive behaviour in any form it causes a noticeable increase in the aggressive acts performed by child. However it also showed us that the aggressive behaviour can vary greatly depending on the sex of the child, the sex of the model and nature of the aggression that they are exposed to. It taught us that there are differences in the aggressive play tendencies of boys compared to girls, the boys for example were much more likely to engage in gun play and other non-related aggressive play behaviours whereas girls were more likely to partially imitate the aggressive behaviour to a less amount than the model. For example girls were more likely to sit on the ‘bobo’ doll but not punch it. Interestingly the study also showed us that there was a greater increase in aggressive acts shown by children had watched the fantasy model. Conclusion: Studies of this nature are a good tool in understanding how exposure to different types of aggression can affect a child’s behaviour and the potential effect of how on screen (video games and television) may affect the behaviour of children. It is however also important to remember that the imitation or expression of violent behaviours is not entirely down to exposure but may also be linked to an individual child’s personality. Minimising exposure to violent behaviours may help to reduce the instances of aggressive behaviour in children, particularly boys, but it is unlikely to eliminate it entirely. Key lessons: • Children exposed to aggressive behaviour are more likely to express aggressive behaviour themselves. • The extent to which children imitate aggressive behaviour can is affected by the sex of the model. • Aggressive behaviour in the media can have an impact on children’s behaviour. • Boys tend to show more non-related aggressive behaviour, girls tend to partially imitate but show less aggression. • Studies of this kind can give only a limited view of the aggressive behaviour in children