What was the primary dependent variable in Bandura's experiment?

In Bandura's experiment, the primary dependent variable was indeed the number of aggressive behaviors displayed by children. This variable was crucial to assessing the impact of observing aggression, specifically through the actions of a model. Bandura aimed to investigate the extent to which children would imitate aggressive behaviors that they had observed. By counting the frequency of aggressive behaviors exhibited by the children after they had viewed the aggressive model, Bandura was able to measure the direct effects of observational learning.

The nature of the experiment focused on understanding the influence of social learning in children's behavior, making the quantification of aggression a central outcome of interest. The behaviors counted included physical aggression, verbal aggression, and nonverbal signals of aggression. This empirical data provided vital insight into how exposure to aggression could shape behavior in a learning context.