What experiment is famously associated with Bandura?

The Bobo doll experiment is famously associated with Albert Bandura and is a key study in the field of social learning theory. This experiment, conducted in the early 1960s, examined how children learn behaviors through observation and imitation. In the study, children were exposed to an adult interacting aggressively with a Bobo doll, a large inflatable toy. Later, the children were observed to see if they would imitate the aggressive behavior they had witnessed when given the opportunity to play with the doll themselves.

The results highlighted that children who observed the adult acting aggressively toward the Bobo doll were more likely to reproduce similar aggressive actions, demonstrating the role of observational learning in shaping behavior. This experiment significantly contributed to the understanding of how behavior can be learned through social modeling rather than direct reinforcement, laying the groundwork for future research in psychology related to aggression, media influence, and child development. Bandura’s work emphasized the importance of cognitive processes in learning and the impact of social context on behavior, solidifying the Bobo doll experiment as a landmark study in psychology.