The most famous psychological studies Essay Example for Free

The most famous psychological studies examineThe most famous psychological studies of clawren and aggressive behavior are Albert Banduras Bobo doll studies, performed at Stamford University, which are instanter widely regarded as early research classics in the field. These were experimental studies in which children of nursery school historic period observed a video in which an adult was hitting, punching, kicking and throwing a large inflatable doll. point actions were used which children would be unlikely to perform spontaneously.The children were then observed, as they played alone in a playroom with the same doll for 10 to 20 minutes. A controlled assembly of children were allowed to play with the doll without sight the video of the aggressive adult behaviour. As you might expect, the children who witnessed the adult aggression performed similar acts and the others did not. In this learn, Bandura has shown that children flourish acts of aggressive behaviour, acqui red simply through observing someone else performing in these acts.There are umpteen flaws in this study however, which can influence or exaggerate the defendions of the children such as the environment in which the study is held. The laboratory is an uncomfortable area in which children may act in a authority which is alien to their usual chemical reactions, and they may behave as they feel they are expected to, one child was recorded asking Mummy is that the doll we have to hit? Children are noted to understand and divide amongst fantasy and real life, (it is ok to hit a doll but not a person.)It is also thought that the theorists stomaching the study may have intentionally encouraged the aggression, something that most parents would not. So although Bandura did enkindle that the childrens behaviour was undoubtedly linked to the images they had seen, it was an artificially made environment (both literally and by means of behaviour expressed by all parties) and therefore I would argue that it couldnt possibly reflect a authoritative scenario. Other studies relating to this concept reached the same conclusions until a study by Feshbach and Singer (1971).Understanding that the environment of a laboratory may be a establishing factor in the behaviour of children, Feshbach and Singer decided to conduct their experiment in schools, an environment in which the children would feel comfortable and therefore more inclined to react in a way which is more accurate. Going into a boys home the theorists spilt a class into deuce groups, and conducted a manipulated situation over a duration of six weeks. The boys were exposed to different types of television, one group were shown typically violent shows, and the other observed generally neutral television.The results proved an opposite reaction to Banduras study the boys exposed to the violent television remained the same, while the other group had gotten considerably more aggressive during the experiment. This re action is in line with the CATHARIS theory, which claims that watching violent programmes decreases levels of arousal, leaving viewers less prone to aggressive behaviour. These studies are extremely contradictory and the differences are an example of how it is extremely difficult to define the exact link between television and behavioural effects.