In Bandura's Bobo doll experiment, the children's imitation of the adult's aggression depended on:
AWhether they were rewarded themselves for hitting the doll
BWhether the doll was presented alongside other attractive toys
CNothing at all, since every child copied the adult's behaviour
DWhether the adult model was punished, or praised and ignored
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. Whether the adult model was punished, or praised and ignored
1. Children watched an adult behave aggressively with an inflatable Bobo doll, hitting, throwing and punching it.
2. The experiment varied what happened to the model afterwards.
3. When the model was punished for that behaviour, the children's tendency to act the same way decreased.
4. When the model was praised or simply ignored rather than punished, the children imitated what she did and even what she said, punching, kicking and yelling at the doll.
5. The children's own behaviour was never reinforced beforehand, which rules out option A, and Bandura concluded that observed consequences shape whether learning is displayed.
_Source: OpenStax Psychology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 6 "Learning", §6.4 Observational Learning (Modeling)_
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