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a level psycology > (BRB) social psychology - obedience (T1) > Flashcards

(BRB) social psychology - obedience (T1) Flashcards

1
Q

define what social psychology is

A
  • investigates aspects of human behaviour that involve the individuals relationship to other persons, groups and society including cultural influences on behaviour
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2
Q

what are the 3 key assumptions of social psychology

A
  • the approach assumes that other people can affect out behaviour, thought processes and emotions
  • being groups in society affects behaviour, responding differently to people depending on what group there in
  • the roles that we play in society also affects our behaviour
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2
Q

define groups and examples

A

gender, ethnicity, nationality, school membership, club membership

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3
Q

give examples of roles

A

expectations, responsibilities and behaviours we adopt in certain situations

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4
Q

what is social influence

A

when an individuals behaviour, attitudes or emotions are affected by someone else

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5
Q

what is obedience

A

a form of social influence, means obeying direct orders from someone in authority

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6
Q

what is compliance

A

going along with what someone says while not necessarily agreeing with it

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7
Q

what is dissenting

A

where someone’s orders are rejected

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8
Q

what is internalising

A

means that you obey with agreement

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9
Q

what is conformity

A

means that you adopt the behaviours & attitudes to those around you

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10
Q

give a real world example of when obedience can be bad

A
  • ww2 soldiers in concentration camps
  • Vietnam war my lar
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11
Q

what does autonomy mean

A

acting out of ones own free will

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12
Q

what was the inspiration for milgrims research

A
  • testing the idea that the Germans were different to other people by carrying out orders os mass genocide
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13
Q

describe Milgrims pilot study and the results

A
  • he described the experimental situation to a sample of psychiatrists, students and middle class adults
  • he asked them to predict how 100 hypothetical participants would behave
  • results were that most would stop before 150v and only 4% would continue to 450v
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14
Q

what was the aim of milgrims original study

A
  • to see if volunteer participants would be similarly obedient to inhumane orders
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15
Q

describe the procedure of the experiment in milgrims original study

A
  • volunteer sampling
  • 40 male participants
  • mix of age, occupation and education levels
  • were paid 4$ for the day
  • took place at yale uni
  • the confederate was always the learner (rigged)
  • teacher could hear but not see learner
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16
Q

what were the participant’s told the experiments was about upon arrival in milgrims original study

A
  • aimed to see how punishment affects learning
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17
Q

how many volts was the teacher given to show that the shock machine was genuine in milgrims original study

A
  • 45 v
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18
Q

what was the task that the teacher was asked to do in milgrims original study and what was the punishment for wrong answers

A
  • asked to read a series of word pairs to the learner
  • punishment was an electric shock starting at 15v and increasing by 15v
  • shocks had labels like danger, and then XXX for last 2
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19
Q

at how many volts did the learner in milgrims original study protest at

A
  • 300v by banging on the wall and then didnt respond after
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20
Q

what were the standardised prods in milgrims original study if the teacher asked for advice or complained

A

1- please continue
2- the experiment requires that you continue
3- it is absolutely essential that you continue
4- you have no other choice you must go on

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21
Q

was there a debriefing process in milgrims original study

A
  • yes
  • all interviewed using open questions and attitude scales
  • procedures were take to ensure they left in a state of well being
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22
Q

what is the quantitative data collected from milgrims original study

A
  • 100% of participants obeyed to 300v
  • 14 stopped before 450v
  • 26 (65%) obeyed to the max of 450
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23
Q

what is the qualitative data collected in milgrims original study

A
  • many participants showed visible signs of distress
  • many twitched and laughed nervously
  • many vocally protested by saying “oh i cant go on with this” or “i dont think this is very humane”
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24
Q

what are the 2 main conclusions in milgrims original study, what were the 2 states that milgrim found

A
  • social influence is strong
    -people will obey orders even when it causes them personal distress
  • autonomous - act according to there own values and conscience
  • agentic state- act as an agent for another person, supressing their own values and not taking responsibility for their own actions
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25
Q

how generalisable is Milgrims original study (GRAVE)

A
  • only used 40 men so ay not be representative of the whole target population of america
  • used men with different educations, occupation, and ages so it increases generalisability and more representative
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26
Q

what is the reliability like in Milgrims original study (GRAVE)

A
  • standardised procedure
  • standardised prods
  • very high reliability and replicability
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27
Q

how applicable is Milgrims original study (GRAVE)

A
  • applicable to the nazi trial; and my lai massacre
  • obedience use- good for certain areas in society e.g police
  • debate of social control
  • used to hold authority figures to account
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28
Q

what is the validity like in Milgrims original study (GRAVE)

A
  • had physical signs of distress which shows they belied the situation they were in
  • many had vocal complaints showing a lack of demand characteristics and high experimental realism
  • artificial setting and task
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29
Q

what are the ethics like in Milgrims original study (GRAVE)

A
  • no right to withdraw
  • deception was used
  • broke guideline to protect participant’s
  • adhered to debriefing of participants at the end of the study
30
Q

what are the 3 variations of Milgrims original study that we need to know

A
  • variation 7- telephonic instructions
  • variation 10- rundown office block
  • variation 13- ordinary man giving instructions
31
Q

what is the aim and procedure of milgrims variation 7

A

aim- to see if having the experimenter physically in the room has an effect on obedience rates
procedure- instructions were initially given face to face, the experimenter then left the room and gave instructions over the phone

32
Q

what is the results and conclusions of milgrims variation 7

A

results- participants giving the max voltage dropped from 65% to 22.5% and some chose to repeatedly administer low voltages
conclusions- having the experimenter out of the room decreases obedience rates

33
Q

what is the aim and procedure of milgrims variation 10

A

aim- to see if the setting affected obedience rates
procedure- setting was a rundown office building in an industrial side of town, disassociated from yale uni and said it was for research associates of Bridgeport

34
Q

what are the results and conclusions of milgrims variation 10

A

results - 47.5% gave the max voltage
conclusions- less reputable setting reduced the legitimacy of the study

35
Q

what is the aim and procedure of milgrims variation 13

A

aim- does authority and status of the experimenter affect obedience
procedure- 2 confederates and 1 participant, experimenter received rigged call and left and told them to carry on, didn’t mention what level shock to give

36
Q

what are the results and conclusions of milgrims variation 13

A

results- only 20% gave max voltage
conclusions- authority or status of the experiment does affect obedience rates

37
Q

what is agency theory

A
  • milgrim suggested that peoples tendency to obey people has a useful function as it helps to keep society running smoothly as people abide by the rules instead of acting independently
  • agency theory suggests the 2 ways of acting are in the autonomous and agentic state
38
Q

how does milgrim explain suggest that the agentic state can be explained

A
  • through evolution as it could be a survival strategy
  • it can also be learned through childhood with parents and in schools
39
Q

what is moral strain

A
  • when they feel that their obedient behaviour is wrong and goes against there moral values
40
Q

how can one reduce their moral strain

A
  • displacing their responsibility by shifting into the agentic state
  • or by dissenting
41
Q

evaluation of milgrims agency theory of obedience (evidence)

A

+ supports the concept of moral strain as there is evidence of distress
+ supported by other research e.g hofling et al demonstrated that nurses would follow doctors orders
- lacks direct evidence as its an internal mental process so it cant be directly observed
- the theory is more of a description than an explanation, shows us that people obey authority figures but not why

42
Q

evaluation of milgrims agency theory of obedience (methodology)

A

+ studies use standardised procedures so can be replicated
+ the theory explains the different levels of obedience found in the variations of the original study
- the methods used lack mundane realism meaning the theory lacks ecological validity and doesn’t generalise to life outside of the lab

43
Q

evaluation of milgrims agency theory of obedience (applications)

A

+ explains real life events such as the obedience to authority shown by US soldiers during Vietnam war
+ studies from different cultures support agency theory e.g meeus and raajmaker found that Dutch participants would harass a job applicant due to obedience
- theory does not explain individual differences

44
Q

evaluation of milgrims agency theory of obedience (alternative theory)

A
  • social impact theory
45
Q

what is social impact theory

A
  • how likely we are to be influenced by others and suggests that the presence of others causes changes in a person
46
Q

what is the target and what is the source in social impact theory

A
  • target- the person being impacted upon
  • source- the person doing the influencing
47
Q

what does social impact theory state that the likelihood that a person will respond to social influence will increase with

A
  • strength -> status authority and age
  • immediacy
  • number
48
Q

what is the multiplication of impact

A

when increase strength, immediancy and number has a multiplicative effect up to a cut of point

49
Q

what is division of impact

A
  • when an increase is strength, immediacy and number causes social influence to be weaker
50
Q

evaluation of social impact theory (evidence for)

A
  • the theory is supported by research e.g milgrim and latane provide evidence for the impact of strength, immediacy and number
  • milgrim variation 7 shows that proximity is an important factor in obedience
51
Q

evaluation of social impact theory (evidence against)

A
  • theory ignores individual differences, does not explain why some of us are more resistant to social impact and some are more resistant
  • does not explain why people are influenced by others, just under what conditions they are more likely to be influenced
52
Q

evaluation of social impact theory (methodology)

A

+ both lab and field experiments were used, this increases the scientific credibility as standardised procedures were used meaning cause and effect can be inferred
- by analysing peoples obedience behaviour using a mathematical formula could be considered reductionist

53
Q

evaluation of social impact theory (applications)

A

+ because it uses a mathematical formula, the theory is useful because it can predict how people will behave in certain conditions
- the theory is limited with thw type of social situation it is able to explain, it cant predict when 2 equal groups impact on one another

54
Q

what are the 3 aspects pf personality as a source of individual difference in obedience

A
  • locus of control
  • authoritarianism
  • empathy
55
Q

describe what locus of control is and give the relevant research

A

description- the extent people feel they are in control of their own lives and situation split into 2 sections called internal and external locus
- research- rotter (1966), milgrims research

56
Q

describe what authoritarianism is and give the relevant research

A
  • personality trait that is characterised by hostility towards people of a diff race, social group, age or sexuality
  • research- Theodore Adorno with F-scale, Milgram + elm (1966)
57
Q

describe what empathy is and give the relevant research

A
  • personality trait which could influence obedience as they understand others feelings well
  • research - burger (2009)
58
Q

describe what gender is and give the relevant research

A
  • individual difference which may have an effect on obedience
  • blass (1999)
59
Q

what are the 4 situational factors affecting obedience and dissent

A
  • momentum of compliance
  • proximity
  • status of authority figure
  • personal responsibility
60
Q

what is momentum of compliance as a situational factor affecting obedience and dissent

A

-starts of making small and trivial requests
- no anxiety to participant
- they commit the participant to the experiment
- feel duty bound
- increases voltage by 15

61
Q

what is proximity as a situational factor affecting obedience and dissent

A
  • closer authority figure, higher obedience rate
  • closer victim lower the obedience
  • obedience close to 100% when learner could not be heard or seen
  • proximity is a buffer
62
Q

what is status of an authority figure as a situational factor affecting obedience and dissent

A
  • obedience was stronger when authority figure was seen as legitimate
  • yale uni compared to Bridgeport
  • ordinary man and high status researcher
63
Q

what is personal responsibility as a situational factor affecting obedience and dissent

A
  • obedience was strongest when they felt someone else was responsible for the harm
  • when they had to sign a contract stating that they were taking part from their own free will and the uni was responsible obedience rates fell to 40%
64
Q

what was the aim and procedure of burgers baseline condition

A

aim- to replicate Milgram’s OG study with correct ethics and see how obedience rates differ
procedure- volunteer sampling, 2 screenings to eliminate any participants who could be seen as a threat or in danger from the study

65
Q

what were the results and conclusions of burgers baseline condition

A

results- practically the same as milgrams OG study however questions asked for validity as he stopped at the PONR (150v)
conclusions- the screening process may have removed people who would have affected the results, gender had no affect in obedience levels

66
Q

what was the aim and procedure of burgers modelled refusal condition

A

aim- to see how obedience rates changed after social support for the idea of exiting the study early
procedure- everything was the same as baseline except for an extra confederate who stopped at 90v

67
Q

what were the results and conclusions of burgers modelled refusal condition

A

results- very similar to his own baseline, more people were obedient than not
conclusions- the 2 confederate system may have triggered a “me vs him” scenario within the participants head

68
Q

evaluation of contemporary study burger (2009) (GENERALISABILITY)

A
  • during the screening process participants were excluded based on factors like mental state or if they had attended 2 or more psychology uni classes which reduces generalisability
  • the sample has a range of ages, ethnicities and genders which increases generalisability
69
Q

evaluation of contemporary study burger (2009)
(RELIABILITY)

A
  • the study uses standardised procedures which increases reliability
  • this was also a replication study so we can assume that replicability is high
70
Q

evaluation of contemporary study burger (2009)
(APPLICATION)

A
  • it entails that orders fromma position of authority (as well as other factors) have a great affect on obedience rates
71
Q

evaluation of contemporary study burger (2009)
(VALIDITY)

A
  • the study was conducted in a lab setting which reduces validity
  • however it does measure what it claims to and results have been attained previously
  • burger controlled extraneous variables like students who had already studies Milgram
72
Q

evaluation of contemporary study burger (2009)
(ETHICS)

A
  • compared to Milgram’s study it is very ethical as it allows the
  • right to withdraw
  • provides informed consent
  • provides an instant debrief
  • however still includes deception

a level psycology (8 decks)

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