In 1961, psychologist Albert Bandura conducted an experiment that would revolutionize our understanding of how children learn—and reveal something disturbing about human behavior.
He invited preschool children to watch an adult interact with a room full of toys.
In one corner sat a 5-foot inflatable clown doll called “Bobo.” It was weighted at the bottom so it would bounce back when hit.
The children watched through a one-way mirror. They didn’t know they were being observed.
The Setup
Bandura divided the children into three groups:
Group 1: Aggressive Model
- An adult entered the room
- Played calmly with toys for a minute
- Then attacked Bobo violently for 10 minutes:
- Punched it in the face
- Kicked it across the room
- Hit it with a mallet
- Yelled: “Sock him in the nose!” “Pow!” “Kick him!”
- Then left
Group 2: Non-Aggressive Model
- An adult entered and played quietly with toys
- Completely ignored Bobo
- Then left
Group 3: Control
- No adult model
- Just shown the room with toys
The children were then taken to a different room with toys (including a Bobo doll) and left alone.
Researchers watched to see what they would do.
The Results
The results were shocking.
Children who watched the aggressive adult:
- Physically attacked Bobo (punching, kicking)
- Used the mallet to hit it
- Mimicked the exact behaviors they’d seen (specific punches, kicks)
- Repeated the exact words: “Sock him!” “Pow!”
- Invented NEW aggressive acts not in the original model
- Boys showed more physical aggression; girls showed more verbal aggression
Children who watched the non-aggressive adult:
- Played calmly with toys
- Rarely touched Bobo
Control group:
- Some mild aggression, but far less than the aggressive-model group
The children didn’t just learn that violence was acceptable. They learned:
- How to be violent (specific techniques)
- When it’s appropriate (adults do it, so it’s okay)
- What to say while being violent
They learned violence by watching.
The Follow-Up Studies
Bandura ran variations to understand when imitation increases:
1. Rewards and Punishment
- Adult rewarded for aggression → Children imitated MORE
- Adult punished for aggression → Children imitated LESS (but still more than control)
Consequences matter, but even punished models are still imitated.
2. Live Model vs. Film vs. Cartoon
- Live adult: Highest imitation
- Adult on film: High imitation
- Cartoon character: Still significant imitation
Even fictional, animated violence teaches real aggression.
3. Same-Sex Models
- Boys imitated male models more
- Girls imitated female models more
- But both imitated both sexes
Children especially mimic people they identify with.
4. Power and Status
- “Powerful” adults (introduced as “boss”): More imitation
- “Weak” adults (introduced as “employee”): Less imitation
Children imitate high-status models more.
What Is Observational Learning?
Bandura’s experiments demolished the dominant theory at the time—that learning required direct reinforcement (reward or punishment).
Observational learning (Social Learning Theory) showed that humans learn by:
- Attention - Watching a model
- Retention - Remembering what they did
- Reproduction - Copying the behavior
- Motivation - Being motivated to imitate (rewards, identification, etc.)
You don’t need to personally experience consequences. Watching someone else is enough.
This revolutionized psychology, education, and media studies.
Modern Implications
The Bobo Doll experiment has massive real-world implications:
1. Media Violence
- Violent video games, movies, TV shows
- Decades of research show correlation with aggression
- Not everyone becomes violent, but observational learning is real
2. Parental Modeling
- “Do as I say, not as I do” doesn’t work
- Children imitate what you DO, not what you SAY
- If you yell at them to stop yelling, they learn to yell
3. Workplace Behavior
- New employees watch senior employees
- If seniors cut corners, juniors will too
- If seniors work late, juniors feel pressure to
4. Social Media Influence
- Influencers model behavior (good and bad)
- Viral challenges spread through imitation
- “Everyone’s doing it” triggers observational learning
5. Political Rhetoric
- When leaders use violent language, followers do too
- When leaders lie, followers rationalize lying
- Observational learning isn’t just for kids
In Software Engineering
Observational learning shapes engineering culture:
Code Quality Culture
Junior dev joins team, watches senior devs
Senior devs skip tests, comment "// TODO fix later"
Junior learns: Tests are optional, tech debt is normal
Result: Team culture of cutting corners
Meeting Behavior
New hire observes first few meetings
Senior engineers interrupt, talk over others, check phones
New hire learns: This is how we communicate here
Result: Toxic meeting culture perpetuates
Work-Life Balance Modeling
Manager works weekends, responds to emails at midnight
Team observes: "That's what success looks like"
Team imitates: Everyone works unsustainable hours
Result: Burnout becomes culture
Production Incident Response
On-call engineer watches how senior handles outage
Senior panics, blames others, makes hasty changes
Junior learns: That's how we handle pressure
Result: Dysfunction cascades
Code Review Tone
New contributor submits first PR
Sees seniors leave harsh, dismissive comments
Learns: This is how we give feedback
Result: Hostile code review culture
Documentation Habits
Onboarding engineer notices no one writes docs
Asks why, told "code is self-documenting"
Learns: Documentation isn't valued
Result: Knowledge silos, bus factor of 1
How to Use Observational Learning Positively
Since people will imitate what they see, model the right behavior:
1. Be the Behavior You Want to See
Don’t just tell. Show.
Bad: "Write tests" (then skip tests yourself)
Good: Write tests, demo them, make it visible
2. Make Good Behavior Visible
People imitate what they see. Make good work visible.
- Celebrate thorough code reviews publicly
- Share examples of great documentation
- Highlight when someone admits mistakes gracefully
3. Address Bad Models Immediately
If someone models bad behavior, address it—or others will copy it.
Senior dev: "I'll just commit directly to main"
You: "Hey, we use PRs even for senior devs. Let's model that."
4. Use Mentorship Intentionally
Juniors are watching. Show them the right way.
- Walk through your debugging process out loud
- Show how you read documentation
- Demonstrate how to ask for help
5. Onboarding as Modeling
First impressions matter. New hires learn culture fast.
First week: Pair with best engineer who models:
- How to write clean code
- How to give respectful feedback
- How to handle being wrong
6. Leaders Set the Tone
If you’re senior/lead/manager, you’re being watched constantly.
You say: "Work-life balance is important"
You do: Work weekends, send midnight Slack messages
Team learns: Actions speak louder than words
The Dark Side
Observational learning can spread:
- Toxicity: One bad hire can corrupt team culture
- Shortcuts: One corner-cutter teaches others to cut corners
- Burnout: One workaholic creates pressure for all
- Bias: Discriminatory behavior gets normalized when observed
Culture is contagious. And negative culture spreads faster than positive.
The Deeper Lesson
The Bobo Doll experiment revealed something fundamental: we are imitation machines.
Children didn’t need to be told to hit Bobo. They didn’t need rewards. They just needed to watch someone else do it.
This isn’t limited to children. Adults do the same thing:
- Stock traders follow each other into bubbles
- Employees copy their manager’s habits
- Engineers adopt patterns they see in codebases
We learn by watching. And we imitate without thinking.
Bandura’s insight: You can’t just control the environment. You have to control who is modeling behavior in that environment.
The Programmer’s Perspective
As engineers, we focus on systems, code, processes.
But the most powerful process is invisible: observational learning.
Your team doesn’t learn from your documentation. They learn from watching each other.
Your juniors don’t learn from the coding standards doc. They learn from reading your code.
Your culture isn’t defined by your values doc. It’s defined by what behavior gets modeled and imitated.
If you’re senior:
- You’re a Bobo Doll experiment in progress
- Junior devs are watching
- They will copy what you do
If you want a culture of quality, write quality code visibly.
If you want respectful feedback, give respectful feedback publicly.
If you want work-life balance, log off at 5pm where people can see it.
You are the model. Whether you want to be or not.
Key Takeaways
- ✅ Children (and adults) learn by observing and imitating models
- ✅ Rewards/punishments for the model affect imitation rates
- ✅ High-status models are imitated more
- ✅ People learn specific behaviors, language, and attitudes from observation
- ✅ Culture spreads through imitation, not policy
The children didn’t need to be taught to hit Bobo. They just needed to see an adult do it.
And they copied it. Exactly.
Your team is watching you right now.
What are you modeling?
Because in 6 months, they’ll be doing exactly what you’re doing today.
Not what you said to do.
What you did.
Choose wisely. You’re teaching, whether you intend to or not.