Identify the Possible Threat to Internal Validity Using "MR SMITH ID"
5 Points Possible (Fall - 2023)
Instructions: Below is a description of a study based on the famous Albert Bandura "Bobo Doll"
Study from 1961. First, read over the study description in Part One. In Part Two, read over ten
variations of the study and determine which MR SMITH ID threat (if any) is present (Hint: There
is one specific validity threat present in nine statements and one statement has no threat at all!).
PART ONE: General Study Description
Picture this scene from Bandura's famous "Bobo Doll" study. First grade children are told that
they are going to engage in an interesting art activity, but that the activity room needs to be set
up first. While they wait, the children can watch an adult in the activity room through a one-way
mirror. As they peer through the one-way mirror, they see an adult (the "role model") enter the
activity room, which is filled with a variety of objects like Tinker Toys, stuffed animals, action
figures and dolls, games, coloring books and crayons, etc. The adult tidies up a bit, but then spots
a Bobo Doll (a plastic punching-bag like doll with a weighted base). The adult punches the Bobo
Doll and watches it slam into the ground, though the Bobo Doll rebounds and stands up again.
The adult punches it again and again for over 5 minutes, with the Bobo Doll always rebounding
(as it is designed to do).
After the adult leaves the activity room, the children are allowed to enter it and given freedom to
engage in any play that they like. Researchers observe the kids from behind the one-way mirror
and keep track of how the children play. More specifically, they watch to see whether the kids
engage in aggressive play like that modelled by the adult (hitting the Bobo Doll). Each child is
rated on two dimensions: 1). An "observed-aggressiveness" scale rated by the researchers that
ranges from 0 (not at all aggressive) to 10 (extremely aggressive) and 2). a "self-aggressiveness"
scale that the kids complete themselves using a similar 0 to 10 scale.
Of course, the "aggressive adult" is only present in one condition. In another condition, the adult
models neutral behaviors (like sitting down and coloring, playing with the Tinker Toys, moving
the Bobo Doll aside, etc.). As a control group, a third condition has no adult role model present,
though they did wait for the same length of time as children in the other conditions before they
were allowed to enter the activity room. Unless otherwise noted, the children were randomly
assigned to one of the three study conditions. Researchers predict that children exposed to an
aggressive role model will receive higher ratings of both observed-aggressiveness and self-rated
aggressiveness than children exposed to either a neutral role model or no role model, with
children exposed to a neutral role model having lower "observed" and "self-rated
aggressiveness" scores than children exposed to no role model.
Below you will read several variations of this Bobo Doll study, but most have a problematic
threat to internal validity. Your job is to identify that threat.
Identify which internal validity threat is most likely at work in each of the following Part Two
statements. You will receive .5 points for each correct response. Note that each threat should be
used only once, with one statement of the ten statements not having a threat. Also keep in mind

 

 

 

internal validity threats may overlap - in these instances, choose the BEST threat for the
scenario. Finally, note that the question order and answer order might differ in Canvas, so make
sure to focus on the CONTENT of the question and answer rather than their order.
PART TWO: Spot the Internal Validity Threat: Use the key below to match the study
validity description with the specific validity threat.
a. Maturation
b. Regression to the mean
c. Selection
d. Mortality
e. Instrumentation
f. Testing
g. History
h. Interactions
i. Diffusion
j. No Threat
1. The study was set for the first two weeks of the semester so that students would be less
familiar with the rules regarding how children should behave at school. The children were
randomly assigned to one of three conditions. Unfortunately, the researchers ran the
aggressive model condition first, and although they asked the kids to not mention the study
details to any of their classmates, many of these children did so anyway (eagerly talking
about "Boxing with the Bobo Doll!"). Many students assigned to the neutral model and no
model conditions thus knew about the presence of the Bobo Doll in the activity room and
actively looked for it when they entered the room. Researchers failed to confirm the
prediction that children exposed to an aggressive role model would receive higher ratings of
both observed and self-rated aggressiveness than children exposed to a neutral role model or
to no role model, with children exposed to a neutral role model having lower observed and
self-rated aggressiveness scores than children exposed to no role model.
a. Maturation
b. Regression to the mean
c. Selection
d. Mortality
e. Instrumentation
f. Testing
g. History
h. Interactions
i. Diffusion
j. No Threat