Lesson 7- Explanations of Obedience (Situational Variables)

Question 1

What are the 3 situational variables affecting obedience?

Answer 1

1) Location
2) Proximity
3) Uniform 🥋

Question 2

How did Milgram manipulate the location in his obedience to authority study and what were the results?

Answer 2

Location- Milgram changed location of study- run down building instead of prestigious Yale uni
- Obedience ⬇️ to 48% from 65%- still high … not that important variable

Question 3

How did Milgram manipulate the proximity in his obedience to authority study and what were the results?

Answer 3

3 proximity variations:
1) Originally, teacher 👨‍🏫 (pps) could only 👂 👨‍🎓 & not 👀 them SO Milgram now put the 👨‍🏫 in same room as 👨‍🎓- obedience ⬇️ to 40% from 65%

2) When experimenter not in same room- obedience fell to 21%
3) Insulating blanket over Mr Wallace’s (learner) arm- teacher (pps) had to force his arm down for him to receive shock- obedience fell to 30%

Question 4

How did Milgram manipulate uniform in his obedience to authority study and what were the results?

Answer 4

Uniform 🥋- Originally, experimenter- wore grey 🥼- symbol of authority SO Milgram- 📞 away experimenter- start- replaced by ‘ordinary member of the public’ (confederate) in everyday clothes
- Obedience ⬇️ to 20%- lowest of variations

Question 5

What are the evaluation points of Milgram’s VARIATIONS?

Answer 5

👎- Lack of Internal Validity- when experimenter replaced by ‘a member of the public’- even Milgram realised- situation too forced & artificial … fake. Pps- may have shown demand characteristics (not real obedience)- realised aim of replacing experimenter
👍- Research support- Bickman (1974)- 3 researchers (one- suit & tie (civilian), one- milkman’s 🥛 uniform, one- guard uniform) gave orders to 153 random New York pedestrians
- Found that 80% obeyed guard & 40% obeyed milkman 🥛 or civilian- uniform 🥋 conveys authority-> obedience
👎- Obedience Alibi (excuse)- David Mendel (1998)- situational variables - feeble excuse or alibi for evil 👿 behaviour- e.g. holocaust caused by situational factors beyond Nazi’s control
👍- Good control of variables- only altered one variable (proximity/location)- kept others constant- 👀 effect on obedience-> ⬆️ internal validity
- Replicated variations- 1000 pps- ⬆️ reliability- 💪 conclusions can be drawn