Audience Theory

The BooBoo Doll Experiment

When looking t audience media throies online there was various diffferent approachs and ideas.I came across this theory called the BooBoo Doll Experiment,and was instantly really intrested in the reaeach and finding of the effect media can have on an audeince.

The BooBoo Doll experiment is a very controversial experiment which was said to prove that children copy violent behaviour.It was conducted in 1961 by a man called Albert Bandura.In the experiment a filmw as played where an adult violent attacked a clown toy called the BooBoo Doll.The children where then taken to a room with nice toys in it and was told they were not aloud to touch them.Furthermore,the children were led to another room full of the BooBoo Doll toys.Acoording to the findings,88% of the children imitated he violent behaviour they viewd earlier on.And a further 8 months later 40% of the children continued to show this violent streak.The concluson to this theory was that children will imitate violent emdia content.

However,there are some key examples of this theory standing ture:

• The film 'Clockwork Orange' in 1971 triggerd a number of sex attacks and violence
• The film 'Childs play 3' in the murder of James Bulger in 1993
• The film 'Seevrance' in 2003 after the murder of Simon Everitt

In my opinion i really like the theory,i feel it hasd lots of flaws but the idea behind it is very strong.I feel violent content should not be seen by younger children,due to it being distressing and nasty.However,i feel depending on the child,they will recieve the content in different ways.I dont thik all children will act on what theyve saw as everyone is different,and more often than not you get quiter children than others.I feel some children may act on what they see,based n them not knowing the right or wrongs.However i dont feel evry peice of violent media contnetn will make every child who sees it iminate it.As a whole,i like the theory in the way its trying to understand how children perceive the emida,which isnt often discussed.However,there experiment was not broad or accurate enough in my opinion,so give a definate answer.