Obedience in a Virtual Setting

Question 1

Who was the study by?

Answer 1

Slater at al. (2006)

Question 2

Why was the study called ‘A virtual reprise of the Stanley Milgram obedience experiments’?

Answer 2

Because it was a deliberate replication of Milgram’s study, using a different procedure.

Question 3

What was the aim of the study?

Answer 3

To replicate Milgram’s work in an ethical way.

Question 4

What was the main purpose of the study?

Answer 4

To find out if experiments in a virtual environment could be useful in psychological studies where direct experiments are not possible.

Question 5

The setting was an…

Answer 5

… immersive virtual environment.

Question 6

The hypothesis was that there would be…

Answer 6

… more stress if the virtual person could be seen and heard than if communication was via text.

Question 7

What were the 2 conditions?

Answer 7

A visible condition (screen) & a hidden condition (text).

Question 8

In the visible condition, the learner…

Answer 8

… protested and showed discomfort. They wanted to stop and were quiet at the end.

Question 9

In the hidden condition, the learner…

Answer 9

… didn’t protest.

Question 10

How many participants were there?

Answer 10

34

Question 11

How many participants were in the visible condition?

Answer 11

23

Question 12

How many participants were in the hidden condition?

Answer 12

11

Question 13

How many participants gave all shocks in the hidden condition?

Answer 13

All of them.

Question 14

In the visible condition, how many participants gave all the shocks (20)?

Answer 14

17

Question 15

In the visible condition, how many wanted to stop?

Answer 15

12 out of the 23

Question 16

In the hidden condition, how many thought of stopping?

Answer 16

1 out of the 11

Question 17

They wanted to stop because…

Answer 17

… they felt bad about what was going on.

Question 18

In the visible condition, the participant spoke to the learner to…

Answer 18

… emphasise the correct answer & help them out.

Question 19

Measure of skin conductance is a…

Answer 19

… physiological measure.

Question 20

What were the results of the skin conductance measure?

Answer 20

Arousal in both conditions

Question 21

In which condition was arousal higher?

Answer 21

visible

Question 22

Arousal was higher in the visible condition due to…

Answer 22

… visible presence.

Question 23

What was the main conclusion of the experiment?

Answer 23

Participants reacted to virtual human as if they were real.

Giving shocks to a virtual human was stressful.

Question 24

Researchers concluded that using an immersive virtual environment was…

Answer 24

… a suitable way of replacing lab experiments, to improve ethics.

Question 25

Strengths of Slater et al.?

Answer 25

- no deception | - procedure modelled on that of Milgram's study

Question 26

Lack of deception was because...

Answer 26

... the participants knew no shocks were given, and no learner was harmed.

Question 27

Why is it a strength for the procedure to be modelled on that of Milgram's study

Answer 27

Comparisons (including similarities) could be made.

Question 28

Despite ethical improvements, participants were still...

Answer 28

... stressed and under pressure.

Question 29

What were factors causing participants stress and pressure?

Answer 29

- study presented seriously - many measures - stress of learner made participant distressed

Question 30

Why was obedience not exactly obedience as such?

Answer 30

Participants knew they weren't giving shocks, so no blind obedience as in Milgram's study.