Summary Of The Bobo Doll Study

After reading the study guide for chapters 2-4, the topic that I found most interesting was the “Bobo” doll study conducted by Bandura. Bandura wanted to see if social behaviors can be obtained by observation and imitation, rather than through genetic factors. So, for his experiment he had young children watch a film in which adults were hitting the inflatable “Bobo” doll with a mallet, throwing balls at it, and shouting at it. He wanted to observe their behavior. The young children were then placed in a room with a Bobo doll and they were given a mallet and balls as well. The children copied exactly what they saw in the film, and they were aggressive towards the bobo doll. When they witnessed the adult being gentle with the bobo doll, they