Situational variables affecting obedience

Question 1

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
How many participants were involved?

Answer 1

40

Question 2

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What were participants told they were taking part in?

Answer 2

A study of how punishment affects learning

Question 3

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
How many confederates were involved?

Answer 3

Two:

• An experimenter
• 47 yo man introduced as another volunteer participant

Question 4

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What did the two participants do to decide who was teacher and who was learner?

Answer 4

Draw dots

Question 5

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What happened when drawing dots?

Answer 5

It was rigged

• The real participant was always the teacher
• The confederate was always the learner

Question 6

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What was the teacher required to do?

Answer 6

Test the learner on the ability to remember word pairs

Question 7

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What happened everytime the confederate got the answer wrong?

Answer 7

Administer a strong electric shock

Question 8

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What was the starting volts?

Answer 8

15v

Question 9

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What was the highest amount of volts to be administered?

Answer 9

450v

15v increments

Question 10

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
Where was the 'learner' sat?

Answer 10

In another room

Voice feedback study

Question 11

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What answer did the confederate give?

Answer 11

Mainly wrong answers

Question 12

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What happened when they reached 300v level?

Answer 12

• Pounded on the wall

- Gave no response to next question

Question 13

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What happened if the teacher asked to stop at any point?

Answer 13

• Experimenter had a seriesof prods to repeat such as

> ‘ It is absolutely essential that you continue’

Question 14

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
What did Milgram's colleagues and students predict how long participants would go before refusing to continue?

Answer 14

They predicted that few would go beyond 150v and only one in 1,000 would administer full 450v

Question 15

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
How many people continued to maximum shock level?

Answer 15

65%

Question 16

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
How many participants went to 300v?

Answer 16

All participants

Question 17

Key study ( Milgram 1963) 
How many people stopped at 300v?

Answer 17

12.5%

Question 18

What are situational factors in obedience?

Answer 18

• Proximity
• Location
• The power of uniform

Question 19

What happened in the proximity study?

Answer 19

Both teacher and learner seated in the same room

Question 20

What happened to obedience levels in the proximity study?

Answer 20

They fell to 40%

Question 21

What happened in the touch proximity condition?

Answer 21

Teacher had to force learners hand onto shock plate

Question 22

What happened to levels of obedience in the touch proximity condition?

Answer 22

Obedience rate dropped further to 30%

Question 23

What happened in the experimenter absent study?

Answer 23

The experimenter gave instructions over the telephone

Question 24

What happened to obedience in the experimenter absent study?

Answer 24

Only 21% continued to maximum shock level

Question 25

What happened when study was done in a run down office in connecticut?

Answer 25

48% continued to full 450v

Question 26

What did Bushman dress the confederate in?

Answer 26

• Police uniform
• Business executive
• A beggar

Question 27

What happened when dressed as police

Answer 27

72% of people obeyed

Question 28

What happened when dressed as a business excecutive

Answer 28

48%

Question 29

What happened when dressed as a beggar?

Answer 29

52%

Question 30

Internal validity: Lack of realism

Answer 30

Orne and Holland claim that participants in psychological studies have learned to distrust experimenters because they know that the true purpose of the study may be disguised
- Perry discovered that many of Milgram’s participants had been sceptical ( shocks real ?)
- Divided Milgram’s participants into believers and into doubters
This finding challenges the validity of Milgram’s study suggests that when faced with the reality of destructive obedience, people are more likely to disobey an authority figure

Question 31

Historical validity: would the same thing happen today?

Answer 31

We may be tempted to dismiss the relevance of Milgram’s study simply because it was carried out over 50 years ago. What would happen if the same studies were carried out today?
- Blass ( 1999): statistical analysis of obedience studies carried out between 1961 and 1985.
- Carried out correlation analysis relating to each study’s year of publication and the amount of obedience it found
He discovered no relationship
This suggests that Milgram’s findings still appear to apply as much today as they did back in the early 1960s
They have historical validity

Question 32

The power of uniform: Research support

Answer 32

Durkin and Jeffery ( 2000) demonstrated that young children’s understanding of police authority was dominated by visual cues, specificallt the presence of police uniform
- Children aged 5-9 asked to select who they think has the power to arrest someone
- A policeman dressed in normal clothes, a man of a different occupation dressed in police uniform or a man in another occupation uniform
- Children selected man in police uniform
These findings suggest that children’s initial perceptions of authority are dominated by superficial aspects of appearance, which are more easily accessible than socially conferred status