Bocchiaro

Question 1

research method

Answer 1

Lab observation

Question 2

What was the “experimental paradigm”?

Answer 2

A hypothetical study on sensory deprivation to see whether PPs would write a statement to friends

Question 3

Sample

Answer 3

149 Dutch Uni students
96 females
53 males

Question 4

How many students in pilot test?

Answer 4

92

Question 5

How many students in comparison group?

Answer 5

138

Question 6

How many PPs obeyed?

Answer 6

76.5%

Question 7

Explain how the procedure from Bocchiaro et al.’s
study relates to the key theme of responses to
people in authority (3)

Answer 7

Participants were tested to see if they would obey,
disobey or whistleblow a request from a person
posing as an experimenter, deemed to be a legitimate
authority figure, who wanted to carry out a
potentially unethical study (into sensory deprivation)

Question 8

Describe the sample used in Bocchiaro et al.’s
study into whistleblowing. (2)

Answer 8

149 dutch undergraduate uni students, 96 women and 53 men

Question 9

Outline one way in which Bocchiaro et al.’s study
showed sampling bias (2)

Answer 9

The study was gender biased towards female
participants which meant that obedience levels
did not fully represent male’s behaviour

Question 10

Outline one conclusion that can be drawn from
Bocchiaro et al.’s study into disobedience and
whistleblowing. (2)

How would you answer?

Answer 10

a conclusion and evidence

Question 11

Outline one conclusion that can be drawn from
Bocchiaro et al.’s study into disobedience and
whistleblowing. (2)

Answer 11

What individual’s think/say they and others will do in a
given situation often differs from actually happens. Initially
only about 4% of participants indicated that they
would obey the researcher when in reality 75% of the participants did so.

Question 12

From Bocchiaro et al’s study into disobedience and
whistleblowing:
Identify two quantitative findings. [2]

Answer 12

Only 3.6% indicated they would obey the experimenter.

76.5% obeyed the experimenter

Question 13

To what extent does the study by Bocchiaro et al change our
understanding of responses to people in authority? [3]

Answer 13

Although the study did develop our understanding
of obedience to authority in a more complex social
situation, more representative of real life than Milgram’s
study, the majority of participants still supported the
theory that people will obey authority figures, even if
the authority is unjust.

Question 14

Aim

Answer 14

To investigate factors that influence obedience, disobedience and whistle blowing to an unethical request

Question 15

Procedure

Answer 15

No IV

8 pilot studies - check ethics

Pps required to give names of fellow students, told a story on sensory deprivation where there had been negative consequences on PPs

PPs left for 3 mins then moved to another room

asked to write a statement of support of the study addressed to their friends, left alone for 7 mins

DV= percentage of pp that obeyed by writing a statement in support of sensory deprivation research or that disobeyed or that whistle blew and reported the expt to the ethics committee

Also completed 2 personality tests

Question 16

Findings

Answer 16

No relation in terms of religion or gender

76.5% obeyed compared to the 36% that the comparison group thought would

14.1% disobeyed compared to 31.9%

9.4% whistle blew compared to 64.5%

Question 17

Conclusions

Answer 17

Individuals tend to obey authority figures even if the authority is unjust

Question 18

To what extent does Bocchiaro change our understanding to responses to authority?

Answer 18

No change - high obedience in both studies
change - Bocchiaro went further than Milgram and showed that people think they will be less obedient than they actually are

Question 19

To what extent does Bocchiaro change our understanding of responses to authority (Individual)

Answer 19

Milgram only used males, Bocchiaro used males and females and was able to show that females are just as obedient

Question 20

To what extent does Bocchiaro change our understanding of responses to authority (Social)

Answer 20

Both were influenced by social context, Bocchario went further and was able to show that the authority figure does not need to be present

Question 21

To what extent does Bocchiaro change our understanding of responses to authority (Cultural)

Answer 21

Milgram - USA
Bocchiaro - Netherlands

Both showed high levels of obedience

Question 22

How does Bocchiaro link to the social area?

Answer 22

Defining Principle - Assumes that a major influence on people’s behaviour, through processes and emotions are the real, implied or imagined presence of others

Interested in the influence of an authority figure even when they were not in the room with the PPs and whether this had an effect on whether PPs obeyed, disobeyed or whistle blew

Question 23

How does Bocchiaro link to the key theme?

Answer 23

Builds on Milgram’s work into obedience and disobedience by giving PPs the option to whistle blow on the experimenters and reporting them for potentially unethical research on sensory deprivation. 76.5% were obedient, only 9.4% blew the whistle

Question 24

Pros and cons to research method

Answer 24

+ procedure standardised (paradigm and locations)
+Obedience was tested ethically

-PPs may have guessed the aims of the study - resulting in demand characteristics

Question 25

Sampling Bias (pro and con)

Answer 25

+ Males and Females
- All uni students, students may be ore proactive in protesting about unfair practices.

Question 26

Types of data (2 pros and con)

Answer 26

+ quantitative data: personality test scores; easy to analyse
- Quantitative data may oversimplify complex behaviours
+Qualitative data was provided in comments made during the study and during debrief

Question 27

Ethical Considerations

Answer 27

+ Informed consent, right to withdraw and debriefed

-Deceived

Question 28

Ethnocentrism

Answer 28

Experimenter belonged to the same ethnic group as the PPs, so pps may have responded more positively towards him, there may have been less obedience if the experimenter was an “outsider”