Bobo Doll Experiment Essay

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Albert Bandura a renowned, psychologist, known for his work in social learning. He is well known for his experiment called the bobo doll experiment which test his theory on how we learn. In 1963 Albert Bandura, along with his colleges Dorothea Ross and Sheila Ross conducted the experiment which was carried out at Stanford University. The bobo doll experiment was to test Bandura theory that behaviors can be learned through observing and imitating. His experiment was based on the three parts. The first part was how aggressive patterns of behavior are developed; second, what causes people to behave aggressively, and third, what determines if they’re going to continue to resort to aggressive behavior patterns in the future. Bandura believed that through observational learning process behavior is learnt from the environment.
The subjects in the study consisted of 36 boys and 36 boys, who all attended the Stanford University Nursey School. The students ranged in ages 3-6, and used one adult male model and one female adult model. The model refers to the adults who acted the pattern of aggressive / non-aggressive behavior in front of the child. The Bobo doll was a large inflatable toy, when punched or pushed it bounces back again. …show more content…

They also give emphasis to the importance of the mental processes, what we think about a situation and the effect it might have on our behavior in that situation (cognitive). Instead of focusing merely on how our environment controls us (behaviorism), social-cognitive theorists focus on how the environment and we interact. How we interpret and respond to events? How our experiences, and/or expectations influence our behavioral patterns? Social observation learning is important in the socialization process