A Level Psychology OCR Practice Exam

The Bobo Doll Experiment is a seminal study that illustrates the principles of social learning theory, specifically in how children learn behaviors through the observation of others. Conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961, this experiment demonstrated that children imitate aggressive behaviors they observed in adults. In the study, children watched a video of an adult acting aggressively towards a Bobo doll and were later given the opportunity to interact with the doll themselves. The results showed a significant correlation between what the children observed and their own behavior, indicating that learning can occur through imitation rather than direct reinforcement.

This finding has profound implications for understanding child development and the influence of media and role models on behavior. Bandura’s work highlights the importance of observational learning in social contexts, which remains a cornerstone of social learning theory.