Conformity to social roles

Question 1

AO1s (of Zimbardo)

Answer 1

procedure
findings

Question 2

4 AO3s

Answer 2

AO3- Lack of extraneous variables (+)
AO3- High ecological validity (+)
A03- Practical value (+)
AO3- Beta Bias (-)

Question 3

AO3- Lack of extraneous variables (+)

Answer 3

E: For example, the 22 participants who answered the newspaper advert were randomly assigned to

equal chance -> iv -> firm -> credible

Question 4

AO3- High ecological validity (+)

Answer 4

E: for example, Prisoners wore smocks, rubber flip-flops and a light chain around the ankle-prisoners were taken to prison and were stripped.

highly reflective -> extrapolated -> practical value

Question 5

A03- Practical value (+)

Answer 5

E: Zimbardo’s research found that situational factors are powerful in shaping our behaviours

uniform is cue -> violence -> modify uniform improve conditions -> ppa -> past academic quarters

Question 6

AO3- Beta Bias (-)

Answer 6

E: For example, the newspaper advert in the Stanford Prison study looking for volunteers stated “male college students needed” when selecting the 22 participants

not female + 22 is small sample

Question 7

AO1 Outline Zimbardo 1973 study

Answer 7

· To investigate conformity of social roles stimulating prison life- Zimbardo (1973)

· 22 ppts out of 75 , all applicants were interviewed and those perceived to be most stable were accepted, and randomly assigned the role of either “prisoner” or “guard”

· Basement of Stanford university was a prison

· Prisoners wore smocks, rubber flip-flops and a light chain around the ankle-prisoners were taken to prison and were stripped

· Experiment ran for 2 weeks

Question 8

AO1 Outline Zimbardo’s findings

Answer 8

· The environment had a huge and almost instantaneous effect on the behaviour of the guards and prisoners.

· After only a day symptoms of stress began to show in some of the prisoners

· Within the first 4 days, 4 prisoners had to be released with signs of distress.

· The guards and the prisoners conformed to the social roles they were expected to play.

· Both groups became dehumanised in the eyes of the others and the experiment clearly supports the situational explanation of behaviour rather than the dispositional one.

· Prisoner 8612 had a mental breakdown