Strength and weakness of snapshot

  • Has high level, can clearly state cause and effect
  • Doesn't show development of behaviour, doesn't show whether the effect continues or not
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Strength and Weakness of snapshot

One strength of Bandura's study being snapshot is that it has high levels of control because it was conducted over a short period of time. For example, Bandura could control the model's display of aggressiveness in the 10-min period to include set phrases such as "sock him in the nose" as well as set physical acts. This is a strength because it allows Bandura to ensure that the child sees the aggression in the same way each time. This made it easier to state cause and effect because if the child repeated these phrases or physical acts, they were clearly imitating. 

A weakness of Bandura's study being snapshot is that it doesn't show development of behaviour. For example, in Bandura's study, we could only see how aggressive the child was immediately for the 20 min they were observed for. It wasn't possible to see how this aggression developed after a day or weeks after seeing the model. This is a weakness because although we know that the children became aggressive approx. 30 min after exposure to the model, it doesn't show whether this effect continues or not.

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