The Bobo Doll Experiment was conducted in 1961 by American psychologist Albert Bandura as a social learning experiment. The aim of the experiment was to understand how children learn aggressive behaviors and how they adopt these behaviors through modeling (imitation).
Purpose of the Experiment:
Bandura wanted to investigate whether children learn aggression and whether this learning occurs through observation. In other words, he aimed to find out if children would imitate aggressive behaviors after observing an adult displaying such behaviors.
Method of the Experiment:
- Participants: The experiment involved 72 children (36 boys, 36 girls) aged between 3 and 6 years.
- Groups: The children were divided into three groups:
- Aggressive model group: Children in this group watched an adult behaving aggressively towards a Bobo Doll, a type of inflatable toy.
- Non-aggressive model group: Children in this group observed an adult playing calmly and non-aggressively with the Bobo Doll.
- Control group: Children in this group did not observe any model.
- Observation: Aggressive model behaviors included actions like hitting, kicking, and punching the toy, as well as verbal aggressions such as shouting and threatening.
- Follow-up Phase: Later, the children were left alone in the same room with the Bobo Doll, and their behavior was observed.
Results of the Experiment:
- Children who watched the aggressive model exhibited similar aggressive behaviors towards the Bobo Doll, including both physical and verbal aggression.
- Children who watched the non-aggressive model did not show aggressive behavior.
- Boys generally displayed more aggression and were more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviors of the male model.
- These results demonstrated that aggressive behaviors are learned and that they can be acquired through observation and modeling.
Significance of the Experiment:
The Bobo Doll experiment laid the foundation for the social learning theory. Bandura argued that not only classical and operant conditioning play a role in how people learn behaviors, but observation and modeling are also significant. This experiment showed that children can learn and imitate aggressive behaviors simply by observing them.
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