Obedience: Introduction (Incl. Social Approach)

Question 1

What is the definition of psychology?

Answer 1

The study of the human mind and behaviour.

Question 2

What is social psychology?

Answer 2

The study of the ways in which humans impact on each other’s behaviour through influence from social situations to help us understand how society and culture can also influence this behaviour.

Question 3

Give a summary of 3 features of the social approach.

Answer 3

1) Understanding social behaviour allows us to understand human behaviour as a whole
2) Our thoughts and behaviours are strongly influenced by social siutations
3) The society and culture in which we live is highly important in affecting our behaviour

Question 4

Define ‘social influence’.

Answer 4

The changes in the way an individual acts as a result of interaction with another person/group.

Question 5

Briefly summarise the historical developments of social psychology in 3 points.

Answer 5

1) Kurt Lewin recognised it was a bridge between Sociology and Psychology
2) Before WW2 the focus was mainly on ‘micro variables’ such as social influence in small groups
3) After WW2 is began to focus on understanding the atrocities committed by the Nazis

Question 6

What are 3 key assumptions about behaviour within the social approach?

Answer 6

1) We are majorly influenced by others as individuals or as a group
2) Our relationships with other people influences our behaviour
2) The situation we are in also influences our behaviour

Question 7

Define the term ‘obedience’.

Answer 7

• When an individual conforms to instructions given to them by an authority figure
• Assuming that the individual would not have performed these acts independently

Question 8

Define the term ‘dissent’.

Answer 8

When an individual expresses disagreement with an instruction from the authority figure, but doesn’t do anything about it.

Question 9

Define the term ‘disobedience’.

Answer 9

When an individual refuses to carry out the instruction given to them by the authority figure.

Question 10

What are 2 strengths of the social approach?

Answer 10

P - Field experiments have high validity
E - Settings of the experiment are natural and familiar to the ppt and so represent real life
E - Therefore behaviour of the ppt will be natural and void of DCs
P - Studies have useful applications
E - Studies such as Milgram (1963) can contribute to understanding social behaviour such as obedience
E - And so solutions to reducing or improving obedience can be formulated from this

Question 11

What are 2 weaknesses of the social approach?

Answer 11

P - Field experiments have low reliability
E - Due to very little control control over EVs it limits standardisation of procedures
E - Therefore it is harder to accurately replicate the conditions to test for consistency of data
P - Low generalisability
E - Samples are often small and consisting of one culture, age group and gender (such as Sherif 1954 who used 22, 11yr old boys from Oaklahoma)
E - Therefore it cannot represent the wider population due to differences in culture and age

Question 12

List the 4 ethical principles.

Answer 12

1) Competence
2) Integrity
3) Respect
4) Responsibility

Question 13

List the 8 Ethical Guidelines.

Answer 13

1) Right to withdraw
2) Informed consent
3) Competence
4) Protection from harm
5) Privacy
6) Confidentiality
7) Debrief
8) Deception