Bobo doll

The Bobo doll experiment, conducted by psychologist Albert Bandura in 1961, studied how children learn through observation and imitation. In the experiment, children watched an adult behaving aggressively towards an inflatable doll, called Bobo. Afterward, when given the opportunity to play with the doll, the children who observed the aggressive behavior were more likely to mimic it, showing increased aggression towards the doll themselves. This study highlighted the concept of social learning, suggesting that behavior can be learned through watching others, even without direct reinforcement or punishment. It has important implications for understanding behavior in various social contexts.