1.1 - Social Influence (set B - Social Roles,Obedience and Explanations Of Obedience)

Question 1

What was the aim of the Stanford prison experiment?

Answer 1

To investigate how readily people would conform to new roles by observing how quickly people would adopt the roles of guards or prisoners

Question 2

Outline the procedure of the Stanford prison experiment?

Answer 2

• mock prison set up in basement of Stanford university - male volunteers physiologically screened and randomly assigned role of prisoner or guard
• prisoners unexpectedly arrested at home and put through introduction procedure upon arrival of prison (humiliated,given smocks and allocated numbers)
• guards were given uniforms, clubs and reflective sunglasses (prevent eye contact)
• lasted 6 days - planned to be 2 weeks
• zimbardo acted as superintendent

Question 3

Outline the findings of the Stratford prison experiment?

Answer 3

• 5 prisoners had to be released early because of their extreme reactions - symptoms appeared after just 2 days
• guards became increasingly abusive and humiliating - ordered prisoners to do degrading activities which they complied with
• both roles appeared at times to forget that this was a study and that they were being watched - still conformed to their roles

Question 4

What can be concluded from the Stratford prison experiment - give 2 points?

Answer 4

• prison environment was an important factor in creating the guards brutal behaviour
• people will readily conform to social roles they are expected to play - especially if the roles are strong stereotyped - including zimbardo who also conformed (made deals with the prisoners for information in exchange he would tell the guards to go easy on them)

Question 5

Give 2 criticisms of the Stanford prison experiment - focus on ethical problems and demand characteristics?

Answer 5

• many ethical concerns participants were subject to psychological harm (violates protection from harm,right to withdraw and lack of fully informed consent)
• some argued that behaviour of participants was a consequence of demand characteristics - they guessed how the experimenter wanted them to behave rather than conformity to roles

Question 6

Explain contradicting evidence to the idea that the guards behaviour was an automatic consequence of them embracing their role?

Answer 6

Others have pointed out that the guards behaviour varied (from fully sadistic to a few ‘good guards’ - who did not degrade or harass the prisoners)

• suggests that the guards chose how to behave rather than blindly conforming to their social role, as suggested by zimbardo

Question 7

Outline 2 strengths of the Stanford prison experiment?

Answer 7

• resulted in prison reforms across the US - was very influential
• emotionally stable individuals (who passed detailed screening) were chosen and assigned roles at random - removed any bias and individual personality differences - no one was more susceptible than others

Question 8

Outline 2 weakness of the Stratford prison experiment?

Answer 8

• others suggested participants were play acting rather than conforming to a role - one guard said he based his actions on a movie character (based behaviour on stereotypes) - zimbardo disagreed, he found that 90% of conversations were about prison life
• some accused zimbardo of exaggerating the power of the situation - only a minority of the guards behaved badly, 1/3 applied rules fairly and the rest aided the prisoners

Question 9

outline the real life application of zimbardos research?

Answer 9

• believed his findings could explain the behaviour of the American soldiers in Abu Ghraib - suggested that if you put ‘good’ people in bad situations they do ‘’bad’ things
• zimbardo asked to be expert witness in trials of high ranking US soldiers

Question 10

What was the aim of Milgram study?

Answer 10

To find out wether ordinary Americans would obey an unjust order from a person in authority to inflict pain on another person even if it goes against their morals (believe the Germans were different to the rest, in the way that they followed orders during the holocaust)

• conducted a controlled observation in Yale university (well respected and prestigious)

Question 11

Outline the procedure of Milgram study?

Answer 11

• 40 male volunteers
• confederate (‘learner’) set up in a room, recording would play after each shock to act as if he was in pain
• participant playing role of ‘teacher’ - would administer an electric shock every time the learning got it wrong, shock increments went up in 15V to 450V
• other confederate ‘experimenter’ would urge participant to keep going when he hesitated

Question 12

Outline the findings from Milgrams study?

Answer 12

• all participants went to 300V
• 65% went up to the full 450V
• most participants found the procedure very stressful, displaying signs of extreme anxiety - although they distended verbally they continued to obey the researcher

Question 13

What can be concluded from milgrams study - give 3 points?

Answer 13

• under certain circumstances, most people will obey orders and go against their conscience
• when people occupy a subordinate position in a dominance hierarchy they become liable to lose feelings of empathy (blind obedience)
• atrocities can largely be explained in terms of pressure to obey a powerful authority

Question 14

Outline and explain 2 criticisms of milgrams study?

Answer 14

• study violated ethical concerns - specifically the potential harm and distress the participants were subject to - also were not informed fully about the procedure
• others have claimed it lacks experimental (internal) validity, participants were going along with the act and appearing to be distressed to please the experimenter, questioned wether the shocks were real

Question 15

Give three situational variables investigated by Milgram on obedience?

Answer 15

• role of proximity
• location
• uniform

Question 16

Outline the findings of role of proximity on obedience?

Answer 16

• when teacher (participant) and learner (confederate) are in the same room - obedience rates dropped from 65% to 40%
• when teacher had to force learners hand on shock play it lowered a further 30%
• when experimenter was removed and gave instructions via phone, obedience dropped to 21%

Question 17

Outline the findings of location on obedience?

Answer 17

• original study carried out at prestigious and well regarded Yale university
• when replicated again at a run-down abandoned building - obedience rate dropped to 48%

Question 18

Outline the findings of uniform on obedience?

Answer 18

• original study involved the experimenter wearing a lab coat - suggesting legitimate authority
• in variation, experimenter called away for phone call and replaced by a confederate dressed like an ordinary member of public wearing casual clothes - obedience dropped to 20% (lowest of all variations)

Question 19

Allow further research support for the role of uniform on obedience - reference the 3 instruction field study?

Answer 19

Field study carried out on 153 random participants in New York - experimenter dressed as security guard,milkman and in ordinary clothes

• asked members of public to follow 1 of 3 instructions - found highest levels of obedience with security guard, than milkman and finaly casual clothes

Question 20

Outline 3 disadvantages of milgrams study?

Answer 20

• lacks internal validity
• population validity is low
• not generalisable - low ecological validity

Question 21

Outline why Milgrams study lacks internal validity?

Answer 21

Participants may not have been fooled by the setup - probably know that the true aim of psychology experiments is often disguised - so they likely realised they wasn’t harming the ‘leaner’

Question 22

Outline why Milgrams study lacks ecological validity?

Answer 22

• lab experiment, where the participants knew they were taking part in a psychology experiment (wether they fully knew the aim or not)
• unclear how applicable the results are to naturally occurring life situations

Question 23

Outline why Milgrams study lacks population validity?

Answer 23

• only involved men (40 in total - small sample size)
• gender bias - ignoring any potential difference between men and women - applying the findings to everybody

Question 24

Outline what the agentic state is - give evidence for it?

Answer 24

Milgram described it as the position when a person sees themselves as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes

• in interviews carried out at the end of Milgrams study - obedient participants were asked why they had continued with the shocks the common response was that they ‘wouldn’t have done it by themselves and that they were just doing what they were told’

Question 25

Outline what the agentic shift is?

Answer 25

Involves moving from an autonomous state where a person ‘sees themselves as responsible for their own actions’ into an agentic state where they ‘see themselves as an agent for carrying out another persons wishes’

• feel they are not responsible for the actions that authority dictates

Question 26

Explain the legitimacy of authority?

Answer 26

First condition which is needed for a person to shift to the agentic state - person needs to perceive someone as being legitimate authority

• for example in Milgrams study the participants enter the lavatory with the expectation that someone is in charge - experimenter presents himself which fills the role of an authoritarian personality for them, therefore there likely to shift to agentic sate

Question 27

Outline the application and link between Milgrams agentic shift and real life atrocities?

Answer 27

Applied to American soldiers actions in Vietnam - specifically the my lai massacre, where soldier found a village full of non-combatants, soldiers were ordered to murder all the villagers, platoon commanders defence was that he was just following orders

Question 28

Outline hoflings study on the obedience to authority by nurses?

Answer 28

• field study with 22 real nurses - more realistic (higher ecological validity)
• confederate posed as an unknown doctor and called the hospital and ordered the nurses, who were alone to administer a dangerously high dose (twice the stated limit) of a fictional drug to a patient

Question 29

Outline the findings of hoflings study on obedience to authority by nurses?

Answer 29

• 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed the doctors orders
• only 1 nurse question the identity of the research
• 11 admitted they were aware of the dangerous dosage being administered - 10 did not notice and just believed it was safe because the doctor ordered them to do os

Question 30

What can be concluded from hoflings study on obedience to authority by nurses?

Answer 30

• Although such obedience was against regulations (aren’t allowed to take orders by phone,dosage was double maximum on the box and the medicine was not authorised) the power relationship between doctors and nurses meant repercussions would be likely if they did not do what they were told (social pressure)
• more likely to trust someone in power (superior judgment of knowledge) - nearly half the doctors didn’t question the dosage

Question 31

Outline Rank and Jacobsons study on obedience to authority by nurses?

Answer 31

• field study
• telephoned group of nurses acting and gave them instructions appearing as a doctor they knew - to administer a familiar drug with a dosage 3 times the recommend amount
• nurses were allowed to consult other nurses

Question 32

What can be concluded from Rank and Jacobsons study on obedience to authority by nurses?

Answer 32

• 2/18 nurses obeyed
• being in a familiar situation (knew the drug and doctor) and being able to discuss with others reduced obedience - shows obedience increases in ambiguous situations where people rely on others knowledge

Question 33

Explain what the F scale is in regard to authoritarian personality - what does a high F scale indicate?

Answer 33

California F scale or fascism scale - was developed as a measure of authoritarian traits or tendencies - used by Adorno et al

• Adorno found that people who scored high on the F scale tended to have been raised by parents who used an authoritarian parenting style (ie use of physical punishment) - likely to obey authority and strictly follow social rules and hierarchies

Question 34

Outline and explain situational and dispositional explanations?

Answer 34

Situational - explanations that focus on the influences that stem from the environment in which the individual is found

Dispositional - explanations of individual behaviour caused by internal characteristics that reside within the individuals personality

Question 35

Outline 3 characteristics of someone who exhibits an authoritarian personality?

Answer 35

• tendency to be especially obedient to authority - and extreme respect for authority and submissiveness to it
• have highly conventional attitudes towards sex, race and gender
• believe as a society we need to be strong and powerful and need powerful leaders

Question 36

Explain the procedure of Adorno et al on authoritarian personality?

Answer 36

• 2000 white middle-class Americans and their unconscious attitudes to other racial groups
• developed F-scale to measure authoritarian personality
• answered questions which provided a score

Question 37

Outline the findings of Adorno et al on authoritarian personality - give 3 things?

Answer 37

• people who scored high on F-scale identified with ‘strong’ people and were more contemptuous of the ‘weak’
• very conscious of their own social status - showed admiration to those in higher positions in the social hierarchy
• strong correlation between authoritarianism and prejudice

Question 38

Outline 2 limitations of research regarding the authorisation personality?

Answer 38

• political bias - F-Scale measures tendency towards a right-wing ideology - politically biased interpretation - cannot account for the whole political spectrum
• correlation not causation - Harsh parenting style is not the direct cause for authoritarian personality - other extraneous variables may play a role

Question 39

Outline 2 explanations for obedience?

Answer 39

• agenetic shift
• authoritarian personality