Social area: Bocchiaro Flashcards
Define ‘research paradigm’
A method of testing participants
Define ‘whistle blower’
Reporting wrong doing to higher authorities
Define ‘personality inventory’
Personality test
What did Bocchiaro predict in terms of levels of obedience compared to Milgram’s study?
That a higher percentage of participants will obey the experimenter because they substituted a softer psychological aggression than Milgram
Why did Bocchiaro predict that there will be a relatively lower level of whistle-blowing than disobedience?
Because it involved a potential direct confrontation of the defiant person and the authority
Why did Bocchiaro expect that people would give a substantial overestimation of the tendency to disobey and blow the whistle?
Because people are inclined to see themselves as better than others and they have difficulty taking into account the situational factors which may make someone obey
Why did Bocchiaro predict that personality variables are unlikely to effect whether someone obeyed/disobeyed/blew the whistle?
Due to the unusual and extreme situational factors, the power of individual factors will be reduced
What research method was used?
Lab experiment
Justify why Bocchiaro’s study was a lab experiment
Because there were very controlled conditions
What is a pilot study?
A small scale study done prior to the main research
How many pilot studies were carried out?
8
What was the purpose of the pilot studies?
To ensure that the procedure was credible and morally acceptable to the participants
Why were the pilot studies successful?
Because post experimental interviews revealed that participants had believed the cover story
How many people participated in the pilot studies?
92 students from VU university
Describe the sample used in the main study
149 undergraduate students from VU university of Amsterdam, 96F, 53M with a mean age of 20.8 years
How did Bocchiaro obtain the sample?
Posters in the cafeteria advertising the study with incentive of 7€ or course credit
What sampling method was used?
Self selecting
What is a strength of Bocchiaro’s sample?
Large sample size of both genders
What are 2 weaknesses of Bocchiaro’s sample?
Only students and can be considered ethnocentric
What is a strength of the way Bocchiaro obtained the sample?
People had volunteered and were therefore willing to take part
What are 2 weaknesses of the way that Bocchiaro obtained the sample?
It may have been a biased sample with demand characteristics as they knew they were taking part in a study
Who did P’s meet in room 1?
A Dutch experimenter who was formally dressed with a stern demeanour
What were P’s asked to provide in room 1?
Names of fellow students
What was the general gist of the cover story?
That they wanted to replicate the study from Rome whereby they looked into sensory depravation (which had negative effects on the P’s)