The study is generalisable to some extent to the
target population of children aged between 3 and 6.
This is because quite a large sample of 72 was used.
It can not be generalised to the whole
population as it is unrepresentative of
people of other ages.
Only American participants were used, therefore it is
unrepresentative of children/people of other cultures.
They may have acted in a different way, therefore the
study can not be generalised to non-Americans.
The study is generalisable to both
genders as an equal number of
boys and girls were used.
RELIABILITY
The study was a lab experiment,
therefore there was a high level of
control of all the variables. The
children's behaviour was analysed by
two observers, so the study had a high
inter-rater reliability. Bandura made
sure that the models used the exact
same routine each time, so the study
had an overall high level of reliability.
APPLICATION
The study can be applied to real life as it provides us with an
explanation as to why people can become violent after
watching violent TV programmes or playing aggressive video
games. Also, it shows us the influence of models and
imitation.
VALIDITY
There was a high level of ecological validity as the study was
based in a university nursery, a natural setting. However, the task
was artificial, lowering it's ecological validity. The children had also
never seen a Bobo doll before so they may have felt as if they had
to copy the models and be aggressive with the doll. Bandura also
provoked and deliberately annoyed the children beforehand, so this
was not a true reflection of their aggression levels.
ETHICS
Protection of participants - Bandura did not
protect the participants as he made them
distressed by making them feel aggressive.
The study was unethical as it exposed the
children to physical and verbal aggression.