Bandura's Social Learning Theory and Experiment
📌 Learning occurs through observation and interaction with others, as described by Bandura's Social Learning Theory.
🔬 The 1961 Bobo Doll experiment involved 36 boys and 36 girls (ages 3-6) exposed to aggressive or non-aggressive adult models.
🕹️ Children exposed to the aggressive model exhibited significantly more aggressive responses compared to those exposed to the non-aggressive model.

Key Findings on Imitation and Gender
👨‍👧‍👦 Boys showed more overall aggression than girls, and specifically, boys imitated the aggressive male model more than the female model.
🗣️ Girls in the aggressive model condition showed more physical aggression when the model was male but more verbal aggression when the model was female.
⭐ Models who are perceived as powerful or those whose behavior is rewarded are more likely to be imitated by children.

Factors Influencing Imitation
🚻 Sex-role stereotypes likely influenced imitation, as aggressive male models were seen as more "fitting" or appropriate for males in Western culture.
🤝 A crucial factor for imitation is the perception of similarity between the child and the model, often linked to the development of a child's gender identity (usually established by 2-2.5 years old).

Key Points & Insights
➡️ Social behaviors, including aggression, can be acquired solely through observational learning by watching others.
➡️ Model characteristics like aggressiveness, gender, power, and perceived rewards significantly impact the likelihood of that behavior being imitated by an observer.
➡️ Children begin internalizing cultural gender stereotypes regarding acceptable behavior as early as three or four years of age.

📸 Video summarized with SummaryTube.com on Nov 19, 2025, 06:09 UTC