Reicher and Haslam Flashcards
- In Reicher and Haslam’s study one of the interventions was intended to increase ‘permeability’.
a) Describe how ‘permeability’ was created. (2)
b) Describe how the situation was changed so the groups became impermeable. (2)
- Permeability was created in the study by informing the Ps that the guards were selected because of certain personality characteristics reliability, initiative. They were also told that if prisoners showed these traits they might be promoted to being guards.
- One guard was promoted but after that Ps were told that no further promotions (demotions) would be possible.
- In the Reicher and Haslam study one of the interventions did not have to be used.
a) Describe this intervention. (2)
b) Explain why it was not necessary to implement it. (2)
- The intervention that did not have to be used was Legitimacy. Legitimacy refers to when decisions are based on real differences. After 3 days Ps were told that there were actually no differences between guards and prisoners but it would be impractical to re-assign participants. This meant that the group division was, after all, not legitimate.
- Low group identity amongst guards led to ineffective leadership. This meant that the prisoners did not regard the guards’ authority as legitimate, leading to conflict and insecurity. This meant that there was no need for the legitimacy intervention which had been intended to create insecurity and trigger the search for cognitive alternatives.
- The BBC Prison study was an attempt to re-examine the conclusions of an earlier prison simulation – the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE).
a) State one conclusion that was the same in both studies. (2)
b) State one conclusion that was different. (2)
• One conclusion that was the same in both studies is that collective conflict and tyranny cannot be understood by looking at individuals; any account must look at group processes.
One conclusion that was different was that…
• The results show that it is the breakdown of groups that creates the conditions under which tyranny can flourish.
• This study shows it is possible to run ethical field studies into social processes rather than conducting sterile experiments.
- Psychologists sometimes make the distinction between situational and individual explanations of behaviour. Consider the Reicher and Haslam study and:
a) Give a situational explanation for the behaviour of the prisoners. (2)
b) Give an individual explanation for the behaviour of the prisoners. (2
• The prisoners behaved the way they did because of the situation they found themselves in. The prisoners wanted to become guards and so tried to display characteristics so that they can be promoted to become a guard.
)
• The prisoners behaved the way they did because of their individual characteristics. They were strong characters and together took collective action and broke of their cells.
- Reicher and Haslam identified various potential criticisms of their prison study.
a) Outline one of these criticisms. (2)
b) Outline their answer to this criticism. (2)
- One criticism of the study was that it was low in Ecological validity. Critics argue that the Ps were play acting for the cameras because the prison was not real and neither were the prisoners or the guards.
- One criticism was with regards to the role of personality. Critics would argue that the prisoners were strong characters.
- One criticism was with regards to the reality of inequality and power. Critics question whether the participants really became engaged with the role play and thus act in a meaningful way.
- One criticism of the study is with regards to the impact of the interventions and key variables. Critics question whether the IVs had the intended effect. It could be argued that something else affected the DV – for example the introduction of DMp made prisoners feel uncertain about what would happen next. Also the observed effect on the DV could be accidental.
- Researchers defended the study by saying that acting would be difficult tom sustain for 9 days. Also surveillance is becoming a common feature of our lives and would not necessarily cause unnatural behaviour. In addition it would be difficult to fake the psychometric and psychological data which were gathered on a regular basis.
- The fact that the participants character on relevant dimensions changed over time suggests that personality cannot explain the course of events. In addition dominance only occurred through shared identity rather than forcefulness of personality.
- If the guards were engaged, why didn’t they use their power? The answer is that they chose not to because they didn’t want to be authoritarian.
- This is unlikely because there is no theoretical basis for the chain of events whereas there is theoretical justification for the suggested impact of the interventions. Also qualitative and quantitative measures were in agreement, establishing a clear effect.
- From the prison study by Reicher and Haslam identify four self-rating scales that were used. (4)
- Social identification
- Self-efficacy
- Awareness of cognitive alternatives
- Right-wing authoritarianism
A) Identify the aim of the by Reicher and Haslam. (2)
• The aim of the study was to create an institution that resembled a variety of hierarchical institutions, which would enable the study of inequalities between groups in terms of power, status and resources. Also to find pout whether the concepts of social identity and social categorisation provide a more satisfactory account of group behaviour than the view of role acceptance.
B) Describe the sample used in the study by Reicher and Haslam, and give one strength of the sample. (6)
- 15 male Ps, were all volunteers
- Met the criteria of being normal, decent and well adjusted indidviduals
- Strength: sample is representative as Ps were chosen to ensure diversity of age, social class and ethnic background and thus the results can be generalised to the general population of males.
C) Describe the independent variables in the study by Reicher and Haslam. (6)
- Permeability – refers to the expectation of movement between the groups. Ps were told that the guards were selected because of certain personality characteristics e.g. reliability, initiative. Also told that if prisoners showed these traits they might be promoted to being guards. This created ‘permeability’.
- Legitimacy – refers to when decisions are based on real differences. After three days Ps were to be told there were actually no differences between guards and prisoners but it would be impractical to re-assign participants. This meant that the group division was, after all, not legitimate.
- Cognitive alternatives – refers to being able to think about possible alternatives. On day 4, prisoner 10 was to be introduced. He was chosen because of his background as a trade union official and therefore it was thought he might provide the skills to negotiate and organise collective action.
D) Outline the ethical issues that were raised in the study by Reicher of Haslam. (6)
- Ethical implications reduced by taking several steps to avoid harming the Ps
- Study stopped before things turned nasty
- Study avoided many ethical problems of the SPE
- Protection of participants - Alex Holmes BBC executive producer comments ‘there was a lot of aggression, tension, this is a tough environment’ who knows what damage was done to Ps
- But ethical committee’s report concluded that the study showed that it is possible to conduct dynamic field studies that are also ethical
- Consent obtained: that the guards were selected because Ps signed a comprehensive consent form which informed them of the potential psychological and physical risks.
- Minor Deception: Ps told of their certain personality characteristics
E) Outline the conclusions of the study by Reicher and Haslam. (8)
- The results support the SPE conclusions that collective conflict and tyranny cannot be understood by looking at individuals; any account must look at group processes.
- The results contradict the traditional view that group processes are toxic i.e. inevitably lead to uncontrolled, mindless and anti-social behaviour.
- The results show that it is the breakdown of groups that creates the conditions under which tyranny can flourish.
- This analysis can be applied to the SPE – tyranny flourished when the prisoners were told they could not leave and thus the group became disoriented and broke down.
- The study shows it is possible to run ethical filed studies into social processes rather than conducting sterile experiments.
F) Suggest two changes to the study by Reicher and Haslam and outline how these changes might affect the results. (8)
• Sample not rep only men used, androcentric, gender bias cannot be applied to women
1. Carry out the study with female prisoners and guards, to see whether tyranny can occur in a female institution.
Imp on results:
• You may or may not see tyranny flourish amongst females groups.
• Able to generalise results to females and understand female group dynamics.
• However will not be able to apply results to male population.
• Lacks ecological validity, not real prison and not real prisoners and guards
2. Observation/self-reports from real prisoners and prison guards.
Imp on results:
• Results can be applied to real prisons as the study will be high in ecological validity.
• It will be difficult to infer cause and effect relationships from observations as researchers will have low control over the environment, because they will not be able to manipulate independent variables and observe the effect of these.
• Self-reports are susceptible to demand characteristics, social desirability effect and screw you effect – therefore results may be unreliable.
• You can question the validity of measuring tyranny through the use of self-reports – do self-reports actually measure tyranny? Therefore results may in invalid.
