Devoir n° 4 - 2017/2018 - Conformity and obedience

Question 1

Question 1 – Ethics		
Which of these ethical guidelines did Milgram not break?
- Debriefing
- Deception
- Right to withdraw
- Protection from harm

Answer 1

• Debriefing

Question 2

Question 2 – Theory		
According to film 4, People are practicing \_\_\_\_?\_\_\_\_\_ when they do something because they know it is the right thing to do or when they don't do something because they know it would be wrong (internalized rules resulting from the way one is raised by parents, teacher, etc.).			
- Individual social control
- Positive deviance
- Internal social control
- External social control

Answer 2

• Internal social control

Question 3

Question 3 - Experimental design
What kind of trickery was practiced in Milgram’s experiment ?
- The naïve subject knew that he was giving real electric shocks to the experimenter’s partner.
- The naïve subjects were told the true purpose of the study before the experiment went on
- The experimenter’s partner receiving the shocks was acting as if he were in pain but the naïve subject did not know it.
- All of the above
- None of the above

Answer 3

The experimenter’s partner receiving the shocks was acting as if he were in pain but the naïve subject did not know it.

Question 4

Question 4 – Theory
Define or explain what ‘Agentic State’ means?
- When individuals make their own decisions based on their own ideas, beliefs and experiences.
- When individuals give up their responsibilities and instead act upon the beliefs of an authority figure.
- When individuals do not give up their responsibilities and do not act upon others beliefs.
- When individuals act upon free will

Answer 4

When individuals give up their responsibilities and instead act upon the beliefs of an authority figure.

Question 5

Question 5 – Sherif		
In investigating conformity, Sherif used the \_\_\_?\_\_\_ effect as the basis for making judgments (See text summary, homework Nr1).
- autokinetic
- exposure
- social facilitation
- social trap

Answer 5

autokinetic

Question 6

Question 6 – Asch
In Asch’s experiment on conformity, where subjects were asked to compare line segments and say which one matched a standard, what happened when there was a dissenter in the group?
- He was “shunned”
- The group was more likely to vote to punish him
- Other subjects tried to persuade him
- It actually strengthened the beliefs of other subjects (confederates)
- Most subjects were “freed” from the conformity effect

Answer 6

Most subjects were “freed” from the conformity effect

Question 7

Question 8 – Theory		
According to social psychology, what do the Nazi atrocities, the My Lai massacre, the Jonestown tragedy, and Milgram's experiments have in common?
- All involve the lack of altruism
- All involve dominant responses
- All involve obedience to authority
- All involve conformity to social roles

Answer 7

All involve obedience to authority

Question 8

Question 9 – Asch
To show that “public compliance” and “private acceptance” were different, Asch (1957) had participants:
- announce their answers to a good friend
- write their answers down, rather than speak them aloud
- speak their answers aloud, rather than write them down
- publish their answers in the student newspaper

Answer 8

write their answers down, rather than speak them aloud

Question 9

Question 10 – Theory
According to social psychology, social influence is:
- being influenced by others
- the influence of society on us
- influencing how society operates and determining how it will operate in the future
- the efforts on the part of one person to alter the behavior or attitudes of one or more others

Answer 9

the efforts on the part of one person to alter the behavior or attitudes of one or more others

Question 10

Question 11 – Theory
The one common characteristic of all social norms is:
- they are obeyed more by adults than children
- they all work through voluntary compliance
- they are obeyed more by children than adults
- most people obey them most of the time

Answer 10

most people obey them most of the time

Question 11

Question 12 - Cultural differences
When Milgram’s experiment was repeated in other countries, it was found that:
- collectivist cultures, rather than individualist cultures, are more likely to yield to the majority
- Milgram observed conformity in 62% of Norwegian subjects and 50% of French subjects
- individualist cultures, rather than collectivist individualist cultures, are more likely to yield to the majority
- Milgram observed conformity in 50% of Norwegian subjects and 62% of French subjects
- Both 1 and 2 are correct
- Both 3 and 4 are correct

Answer 11

Both 1 and 2 are correct

Question 12

Question 13 – Asch
In Asch’s experiment, the size of the group that applies pressure to conform is:
- irrelevant
- important through an indefinite group size
- unimportant
- important through group size 3-4

Answer 12

important through group size 3-4

Question 13

Question 14 - Milgram's methodology		
What was the sampling method in Milgram's Study?
- Random Sampling
- Opportunity Sampling
- Self-Volunteered Sampling
- Strange Sampling

Answer 13

Self-Volunteered Sampling

Question 14

Question 15 - Asch and Sherif
An important difference between Asch’s experiment in which participants judged the length of lines and Sherif’s experiment in which participants judged the movement of light was that
- Asch’s participants were older than were Sherif’s
- There was an obviously correct answer in judging the length of lines but that was not so in judging the movement of light
- Asch’s participants made their judgments privately whereas Sherif’s participants made their judgments publicly
- Asch’s participants were all male whereas Sherif’s participants were both male and female

Answer 14

There was an obviously correct answer in judging the length of lines but that was not so in judging the movement of light

Question 15

Question 16 – Milgram		
In the obedience experiment, teachers were \_\_\_\_\_?\_\_\_\_\_\_ the apparent suffering of the learner
- indifferent to
- calmly curious about
- distressed by
- skeptical about
- glad about

Answer 15

distressed by

Question 16

Question 17 – Theory		
A "social norm" is a:
- written rule
- law that has legal status in court
- spoken and unspoken rules concerning how we ought to behave
- the same as a taboo

Answer 16

spoken and unspoken rules concerning how we ought to behave

Question 17

Question 18 – Theory
Conformity occurs when:
- individuals change their behavior in order to fit that of other persons in their group
- individuals adhere to conventions of a society, such as wearing clothes
- individuals influence one another
- individuals mimic one another

Answer 17

individuals change their behavior in order to fit that of other persons in their group

Question 18

Question 19 – Milgram
In Milgram’s experiment, which of the folowing factors encourages the compliance of the naïve subject?
- Increasing the physical distance between the participant and authority (if the authority was not physically present in the room but issued orders over a phone link)
- The degree to which the person giving instructions is viewed as a legitimate authority (if subjects faced a stable authority )
- Increasing the proximity of the participant to the learner (or “victim”) (if the learner was in the same room rather than another one).
- The disrepair of the University (if the experiment was re-located from Yale University to a less prestigious office).

Answer 18

The degree to which the person giving instructions is viewed as a legitimate authority (if subjects faced a stable authority )

Question 19

Question 20 – Results		
In Asch's study of perceptual judgment involving the length of lines, naive participants conformed \_\_\_\_\_?\_\_\_\_\_ of the time to the false judgments of the confederates.
- 10%
- 37%
- 68%
- 92%-

Answer 19

37%