... aggression were positive (reinforcement) or negative (discouragement). To prove the theory, Bandura, Ross, and Ross (1961) conducted an experiment where young children (average age 52 months), were to see an aggressive model hit a bobo doll, and the children were then observed to imitate that behavior. Children who were exposed to the aggressive models had shown significantly higher levels of aggression then the control group. However this experiment has been criticized for not having a completely standardized procedure, for lacking ecological validity because it has been performed in a controlled laboratory environment, and for ethical reasons for invoking aggression into the young participants. Theoretically, the experiment had only proven the theory of modeling, and imitation of observed behavior, which could be however only a result of induced demanded characteristics, where participants thought they were expected to imitate the model they saw, the implications of reinforcement upon persistence of aggressive ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now