Psychology Classics All Psychology Students Should Read: The Bobo Doll Experiment

by Albert Bandura, Dorothea Ross, Sheila Ross

A Psychology Classic

Albert Bandura is one of the world's most frequently cited psychologists. His ground-breaking work within the field of social learning and social cognitive theory led to a paradigm shift within psychology away from psychodynamic and behaviorist perspectives. As part of a new research agenda in the early 1960's which posited that people learn vicariously through observation Bandura began investigating aggression through imitation; work that gave rise to one of the most famous psychology studies of all time, "Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models." More commonly known as "The Bobo Doll Experiment," it was the first study to explore the impact of televised violence on children.

Note To Psychology Students If you ever have to do a paper, assignment or class project on the Bobo doll experiment having access to Bandura's original publication in full will prove invaluable. A psychology classic is by definition a must read; however, most landmark texts within the discipline remain unread by a majority of psychology students. A detailed, well written description of a classic study is fine to a point, but there is absolutely no substitute for understanding and engaging with the issues under review than by reading the authors unabridged ideas, thoughts and findings in their entirety.

Bonus Material Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models builds upon some of Albert Bandura's previously published work. Among the most notable of these earlier publications is Identification as a Process of Incidental Learning; which is also presented in full.

Transmisssion of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models (The Bobo Doll Experiment.) has been produced as part of an initiative by the website www.all-about-psychology.com to make historically important psychology publications widely available.

Genres: Psychology

52 pages, Paperback

First published June 18, 2013

About the author

Albert Bandura OC is a psychologist who is the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to the field of education and to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory (renamed the social cognitive theory) and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment.

Social cognitive theory is how people learn through observing others. An example of social cognitive theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is "the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations." To paraphrase, self-efficacy is believing in yourself to take action. The Bobo Doll Experiment was how Albert Bandura studied aggression and non-aggression in children.

A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget, and as the most cited living one. Bandura is widely described as the greatest living psychologist, and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.

In 1974 Bandura was elected to be the Eighty-Second President of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was one of the youngest president-elects in the history of the APA at the age of 48. Bandura served as a member of the APA Board of Scientific Affairs from 1968 to 1970 and is well known as a member of the editorial board of nine psychology journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1963 to 1972. At the age of 82, Bandura was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for psychology.

Reviews

[Rebecca Fernandez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book to read if you have a basic or a more advanced interest in psychology. I liked the further recommendations at the end also

[Aidan Hart · Rating 3 out of 5]

The validity is highly questionable, but was still an interesting study.