Social Psych

Question 1

What was Rousseau’s opinion on the nature of humankind?

Answer 1

Man is by nature good and only institutions make him bad

Question 2

What was Hobbes’ opinion on the nature of humankind?

Answer 2

Man is by nature solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish - need civilising constraints on society for the safety of all

Question 3

Who is generally more “right” about humankind’s nature?

Answer 3

Rousseau, because in situations of crisis, people are generally kind to each other and do not panic

Question 4

Describe a cognitive approach to social psychology

Answer 4

Emphasis on how perception/interpretation of the environment affects behaviour. For example, if you interpret noxious behaviour as accidental, then it is unlikely that you will respond aggressively.

Question 5

List four more recent debates in social psych

Answer 5

1. What sort of questions should be asked within social psych?
2. What sort of theory should be used?
3. What sort of issue should be studied?
4. What sort of research methods should be used?

Question 6

Describe a learning perspective to social psych

Answer 6

Emphasis on principles of reinforcement and imitation; responses based on prior learning. Tendency to focus on observable behaviour and ignore cognition.

Question 7

Describe a motivational perspective to social psych

Answer 7

Emphasis on basic human needs - need to belong, need to be accepted. If not accepted, more likely to: drop out of school, be depressed, etc.

Question 8

Evidence for motivational perspective

Answer 8

People need other people: Part of brain that lights up due to physical pain also lights up due to social pain

Question 9

Biological perspective to social psych

Answer 9

Idea that social behaviour is driven by evolutionary past and genetic disposition - we’re aggressive as individuals due to evolving for aggression/aggression being part of evolution

Question 10

Cultural perspective on social psych

Answer 10

Emphasis on how culture affects social behaviour. Example: shift in thinking about gayness, more people ok with being gay?

Question 11

Levels of explanation in social psych

Answer 11

1. Intra-personal level: Based on what goes on inside the person
2. Interpersonal level: Interactions between two people - what was it about someone’s interaction with others that caused them to commit the actions they did?
3. Inter-group level: Based on group level behaviour
4. Societal level: Cultural effects on behaviour

Question 12

Example of intra-personal level of explanation: Charles Whitman

Answer 12

Charles Whitman shot several people - did an autopsy and found that he had a growth in his brain

Question 13

Example of inter-group level of explanation

Answer 13

Why is it that men tend to be more violent when rejected, as compared to women?

Question 14

Example of societal level of explanation

Answer 14

Why are there so many murders in some countries like the U.S.?

Question 15

Freud was the first person to draw attention to:

Answer 15

1. The study of the unconscious
2. The developmental aspects of character
3. Talking cures (therapy)

Question 16

Freud vs. Hobbes

Answer 16

1. Hobbes claimed that a person’s baser instincts were curbed by external sanctions, whereas Freud claimed that the external restraints of society were internalised during childhood. Parents spanked children → children internalise parental/societal standards of right and wrong.

Question 17

How did Freud see the human condition?

Answer 17

As a seething cauldron of pleasure-seeking instincts

Question 18

What did Freud think about forbidden impulses?

Answer 18

Impulses can be denied, but will always return and reassert themselves - will always be a conflict between instincts and the demands of society. This conflict goes on deep in the unconscious.

Question 19

What three subsystems are involved in this unconscious conflict?

Answer 19

The id, ego, and superego

Question 20

Describe the id

Answer 20

1. Most primitive part of the psyche (contains the need to gain sexual pleasure)
2. Works on the demand principle - demands satisfaction now not later, regardless of consequences

Question 21

Describe the ego

Answer 21

Works on the reality principle and tries to satisfy the id in accordance with societal norms

Question 22

Describe the superego

Answer 22

1. Represents internalised societal rules - if rules are broken, superego metes out punishment (guilt and anxiety)
2. If the demands of the superego are met, the impulses of the id must be repressed

Question 23

What necessitates defence mechanisms?

Answer 23

As impulses re-emerge, so does intense anxiety (conflict between id and superego) → defence mechanisms brought into play

Question 24

Describe the four defence mechanisms

Answer 24

1. Displacement: Impulses redirected into a safer course (example: going to gym to get out sexual urges)
2. Reaction formation: Original wish is supplanted with the opposite
3. Projection: Urges are projected onto others (example: if you see someone you like, you might think that they like you - projection of desires)
4. Isolation: Awareness of memories, but not emotions (example: can talk very calmly about significant trauma)

Question 25

Origins of unconscious conflict

Answer 25

Result of childhood experiences - child starts life seeking pleasure through the stimulation of certain body zones

Question 26

List the psychosexual stages of development

Answer 26

1. Oral stage (0-2)
2. Anal stage (2-4)
3. Phallic stage (4-6)
4. Latency stage (6-12)
5. Genital stage (12+)

Question 27

What happens during the phallic stage for boys?

Answer 27

1. Boys develope Oedipus complex (want to fuck mom, hate dad) –> fear that father may find out and castrate them
2. Develope castration anxiety, problem resolved when boy gives up desire for mom
3. Boy identifies with dad (learns to be a man like his dad) in the hope that when he’s older he’ll have a partner like his mom

Question 28

What happens in the phallic stage for girls?

Answer 28

1. Girls develope Electra complex
2. Realise that they do not have a dick –> feel that they have been castrated already and develope “penis envy”
3. Want to fuck dad who has a dick in the hopes that he will give them a dick substitute (a baby), hates mom
4. Develope anxiety over desires, end up identifying with mom

Question 29

What does difficulty at the oral stage lead to?

Answer 29

Example: was pulled off the breast as a baby. Leads to oral fixation, smoking, thumb sucking.

Question 30

What does difficulty at the anal stage lead to?

Answer 30

Example: problems on the potty. Leads to anal retentiveness, won’t spend money, obstinate, likes painting.

Question 31

What does difficulty at the phallic stage lead to?

Answer 31

Castration anxiety → boy becomes gay

Question 32

Issues with Freud’s theories

Answer 32

1. Never actually studied children
2. Ideas not falsifiable - theory that’s right either way
3. Little experimental evidence to support ideas - data better explained through other processes, experiments supporting his claims often flawed

Question 33

Freud and aggression

Answer 33

Claimed that children with harsh parents redirect aggressive instincts towards those with less power

Question 34

Issues with Freud’s thoughts on aggression

Answer 34

Evidence suggests that authoritarian aggression is not caused by the redirection of repressed impulses, but by observational learning (example: Bandura, 1965)

Question 35

Example of flawed experiment supporting Freud: Bruner & Postman

Answer 35

1. Freud claimed that threatening stimuli is repressed
2. Bruner & Postman presented threatening (sex, fuck) and non-threatening words (brick, tennis) by means of tachistoscope → found that threatening words took longer to report
3. Supports theory of repression, but findings are problematic as people may feel embarrassment or want to recheck their eyes

Question 36

Attitude definition according to Crano & Prisilin

Answer 36

A positive or negative reaction towards a stimulus

Question 37

What three components are attitudes comprised of?

Answer 37

1. Cognitive - what you think about, how you evaluate something at an intellectual level
2. Affective - emotional
3. Behavioural - the extent to which we intend to behave in accordance with our attitudes

Question 38

Likert scales as a technique of attitude measurement

Answer 38

Depend on honesty (sometimes people don’t tell the truth and give socially desirable answers instead) –> need to use unobtrusive methods

Question 39

The bogus pipeline as a technique of attitude measurement

Answer 39

Participants hooked up to impressive-looking apparatus, told it measures minute changes in muscles –> if respondent believes that the apparatus can assess their true attitudes, there is little point in lying

Question 40

Electromyography (EMG) as a technique of attitude measurement

Answer 40

1. Measures activity of facial muscles - when people experience emotions such as happiness or sadness, different facial muscles move
2. Measure participant attitudes, then present participants with videos which either support or disagree with these attitudes
3. Generally find: Muscles associated with happiness move when the video supports attitudes and muscles associated with anger move when the video disagrees with attitudes

Question 41

Attitude-behaviour relations: LaPiere 1934

Answer 41

1. Investigated the relation between racist attitudes and behaviour
2. Toured with Chinese couple and stopped at over 50 hotels and 200 restaurants - only one hotel refused service
3. Wrote to each establishment asking if a Chinese couple would be accommodated - 92% said no → attitude doesn’t predict behaviour

Question 42

Theory of planned behaviour

Answer 42

To demonstrate the relationship between attitudes and behaviour we must consider:
1. When we have a positive attitude towards the behaviour
2. When norms support our attitudes
3. When the behaviour is under our control
According to this model, many studies fail to find relations between attitudes and behaviour because they do not take these factors into account. Support for this model: Sieverding et al., 2010.

Question 43

Attitude stability and change: Himmelweit 1990

Answer 43

Found in a 15-year study that attitudes to capital punishment did not change - attitudes are generally stable

Question 44

Factors contributing to attitude change: Cognitive dissonance

Answer 44

1. Cognitive dissonance describes inconsistency between attitudes and behaviour
2. If behaviour is irrevocably at odds with original attitude –> attitude changes
3. Evidence: Knox & Inkster asked people to estimate the chances of winning a bet –> found that those who had placed bets were much more confident of winning

Question 45

Other factors contributing to attitude change

Answer 45

1. If the source is: Credible, trustworthy, attractive, and likeable
2. If the message is presented, quickly, long, and without hesitation
3. If we are approached on sunny days or when we are happy
4. Emotional appeals: Fear works when message evokes moderate to strong fear and/or the message provides a feasible way to reduce threat

Question 46

Attitude resilience: McAlister et al. (1982)

Answer 46

1. One way to avoid attitude change is via the rehearsal of counter-arguments
2. Sought to prevent teens from smoking, taught arguments like “I’d be real chicken if I smoked just to impress you” → teenagers trained in this way were less likely to smoke

Question 47

Measurement of attributions: Likert scales

Answer 47

1. Example: Jane scores 95% on a maths test. What is the single most important cause of this behaviour?
2. Jane then rates this on a Likert scale
3. Internal - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 - External

Question 48

Consequences of attributions

Answer 48

1. Couples with marital distress tend to attribute their partner’s negative behaviour to internal characteristics
2. Frey & Rogner (1987) found that following accidents, individuals who thought that they were in some way to “blame” spent 30 days in hospital, whereas those who thought they were not to “blame” spent 20 days in hospital

Question 49

Optimistic vs. pessimistic attributional styles: Martin Seligman

Answer 49

1. Longitudinal study following young men, found that men who explained negative events through reference to internal characteristics (pessimistic attributional style) tended to have significantly poorer health between the ages 45-60 (25 years after the events took place)
2. Optimistic style: Optimist explains the negative events in terms of external factors

Question 50

Motivational basis of attributions: Self-esteem

Answer 50

Attributions linked to self-esteem in two ways:
1. If we behave positively or successfully and attribute this to our own internal qualities, we can achieve and maintain self-esteem
2. If we behave negatively or fail in some way and we attribute this to the same internal qualities, we can suffer a decrease in self-esteem

Question 51

Motivational basis of attributions: Control

Answer 51

1. If we attribute our successes to our internal characteristics, we may believe that we are in control
2. Control function not always positive - can lead to victim blaming because people want to feel they have control over negative events (if I don’t do this, this terrible thing won’t happen to me)

Question 52

Four levels of analysis for attributions

Answer 52

1. Intra-personal level
2. Interpersonal level
3. Inter-group level
4. Societal level

Question 53

Intra-personal level (attributions): Definition and major theories

Answer 53

1. Focuses on the criteria by which individuals analyse information and come to make an attribution (what goes on in people’s minds)
2. Major theories: Correspondent inference, covariation and configuration

Question 54

Intra-personal level (attributions): Kelley 1967

Answer 54

Claimed that when making an attribution, information can be derived relating to:
1. Consistency: Is this person normally rude to you?
2. Consensus: Are people normally rude to you?
3. Distinctiveness: Is this person rude to others?

Question 55

Interpersonal level (attributions): Definition

Answer 55

Deals with face-to-face attributions, attributions no longer seen as rational

Question 56

Interpersonal level (attributions): Two major types of effect

Answer 56

1. Actor-observer effect (fundamental attribution error): People tend to attribute the cause of their own actions to external factors, and tend to attribute the cause of others’ actions to internal causes
2. Self-serving bias: People take credit for their successes, but not for their failures

Question 57

Inter-group level (attributions): Definition

Answer 57

Attributions at this level examine the way in which the members of different groups explain behaviour

Question 58

Inter-group level (attributions): Hunter et al. 1991, 1994

Answer 58

1. Found that Protestants tended to make external attributions for Protestant violence and made internal attributions to Catholic violence
2. Catholics tended to make external attributions for Catholic violence and made internal attributions for Protestant violence

Question 59

Societal level (attributions): Miller 1984

Answer 59

Found that while individuals from Western cultures favour internal explanations, individuals from non-Western cultures tend to favour external explanations

Question 60

Proximity and interpersonal relationships: McKnight 1994

Answer 60

Found that 83% of people met their “special partner” in a familiar social setting, 6% in a casual social setting

Question 61

Proximity and interpersonal relationships: Byrne

Answer 61

Found that people tended to make friends with people they were seated beside alphabetically

Question 62

The mere exposure effect: Zajonc 1968

Answer 62

Repeated exposure to any stimulus makes it more appealing

Question 63

The mere exposure effect: Mita et al. 1977

Answer 63

1. Claimed that if it was merely repeated exposure to a stimulus that enhanced our liking of it, we should prefer photos of our facial images as we see them in a mirror (reversed image), while our friends should prefer a normal image
2. Found that 70% of people prefer reversed image of themselves, while 70% of people prefer normal image of their friends

Question 64

Factors other than proximity in interpersonal relationships: Reis 1997

Answer 64

1. Claimed that proximity doesn’t always work - other factors at play (personality differences, conflict of interests)
2. If initial interaction is negative and this experience is reinforced, then dislike will occur

Question 65

Emotional arousal and interpersonal relationships: White et al. 1981

Answer 65

White et al. (1981) found that men who ran on the spot rated women as being more attractive - people who are more emotionally aroused rate others as more attractive

Question 66

Emotional arousal and interpersonal relationships: Dutton & Aaron 1974 (electric shocks)

Answer 66

Found that people expecting electric shocks rated members of the opposite sex as being more attractive

Question 67

Emotional arousal and interpersonal relationships: Dutton & Aaron (rope bridge vs. sturdy bridge)

Answer 67

1. Conducted a study in which men who crossed a deep ravine (by means of a narrow rope bridge) or a river (on a sturdy bridge) were met by a female experimenter
2. Found that men who crossed the deep ravine on the narrow rope bridge were more likely to phone up and ask for a date

Question 68

Physical attractiveness and interpersonal relationships: Wakil et al. 1973

Answer 68

Found that out of 32 desirable traits for a partner, men ranked physical appearance 12th and women ranked it 22nd - don’t want to admit how much physical attractiveness matters

Question 69

Physical attractiveness and interpersonal relationships: Green, Buchanan, & Heuer (1984)

Answer 69

1. Analysed computer dating services which used photo matching
2. For both sexes, physical attractiveness was the major determining factor of date choice

Question 70

Physical attractiveness and interpersonal relationships: Walster et al.

Answer 70

1. Used a dance to assess students’ reactions to their partner on blind date
2. People rated for attractiveness by independent observers on arrival - found that the more attracted you were rated, the more you were liked by your date

Question 71

Gender differences in attraction: Whipple 2018

Answer 71

1. Both men and women affected by looks, but men (both straight and gay) are more so than women (straight and lesbian), who focus more on other aspects of the person as well
2. Whipple found that 90% of men agreed to sex when approached by an attractive woman, while only 10% of women agreed to sex when approached by an attractive man

Question 72

Benefits of being attractive: Ravin & Rubin 1983

Answer 72

1. Adults less aggressive to attractive children
2. More likely to be hired for jobs
3. More likely to be given better grades
4. Ravin & Rubin studied decision-making process in casualty wards, found that you were announced dead sooner if you weren’t attractive

Question 73

What’s considered attractive: Facial features

Answer 73

1. Men prefer: Childlike profile, big eyes, small nose and chin
2. Women prefer: Expression of dominance, small eyes, square jaw, and thrusting chin

Question 74

What’s considered attractive: Torso

Answer 74

1. Men prefer medium bust, hips, waist, and bottom
2. Women prefer: V-shaped men - broad shoulders and small bottom

Question 75

What’s considered attractive: Age and height

Answer 75

1. Men prefer younger, smaller women
2. Women prefer older, taller men

Question 76

Cultural effects on beauty: Ingleby (1981)

Answer 76

Fat and diseased babies by Western standards are considered beautiful in other cultures

Question 77

Similarity and attractiveness: Kandel 1978

Answer 77

1. People tend to be attracted to others who are similar to themselves - most important determinants are similarity of attitudes, values, and activities
2. Kandel found that best high school friends resembled each other in terms of age, race, and grades

Question 78

Similarity and attractiveness: Craddock 1990

Answer 78

Found that married couples who shared the same egalitarian or religious beliefs were happier

Question 79

Ending relationships: Men vs. women

Answer 79

1. Men fall in love quicker, women fall out of love quicker (end relationships 60% of the time) and are better through separation
2. Divorce rate 1 in 3

Question 80

Loneliness

Answer 80

Rejection causes pain (lasts for 2 years after end of relationship) - social paincan be felt in same part of brain as physical pain

Question 81

Social facilitation: Definition and general examples

Answer 81

How the physical presence of others influences our behaviour:
1. We are more likely to laugh if others laugh
2. The larger the crowd, the more we eat
3. Cockroaches run faster in the presence of other cockroaches

Question 82

Effect of others’ presence on performance: Schmitt 1986

Answer 82

1. Respondents completed simple and complex tasks
2. When others present → simple task ability improved, complex task ability decreased

Question 83

Drive theory of facilitation (explanation for Schmitt’s 1986 findings): Zajonc 1980

Answer 83

1. Presence of others leads to increased arousal –> arousal strengthens display of our dominant response
2. Performance is enhanced if our dominant response is appropriate, performance is impaired if our dominant response is inappropriate

Question 84

Effect of others’ presence on performance: Michaels et al. 1982

Answer 84

1. Investigated pool players’ accuracy in the presence of others
2. Accuracy of good players increased from 71% to 80%, accuracy of poor players decreased from 35% to 25%

Question 85

Diffusion of responsibility (idea that as group size increases, individual responsibility decreases): Kitty Genovese

Answer 85

Struggled with her killer for 30 mins, reportedly watched by 38 of her neighbours - no one helped or called police

Question 86

Diffusion of responsibility: Latane & Darley

Answer 86

1. Participants sat in waiting room on pretext of taking part in experiment, smoke came out of vent
2. 75% of those waiting alone reacted immediately, less than 1% of those waiting with others reacted

Question 87

Deindividuation: Definition

Answer 87

1. When people are surrounded by others, they lose self-awareness and begin to feel anonymous
2. When aroused, the loss in self-awareness works to disinhibit those impulses which are normally kept under check - impulses depend on situation
3. General idea is the bigger the crowd, worse the actions

Question 88

Deindividuation: Mann 1981

Answer 88

Examined cases of threatened suicide in crowd presence, found instances where victim was abused and taunted

Question 89

Deindividuation: Zimbardo 1970

Answer 89

Found that decrease in self-awareness leads to increase in anti-social behaviour

Question 90

Deindividuation: Beaman et al. 1979

Answer 90

1. In a Halloween study, 34% took extra sweets, but only 12% of those presented with a mirror took extra (mirror made them self-aware)
2. Indicates that an increase in self-awareness → decreased anti-social behaviour

Question 91

Conformity: Solomon Asch

Answer 91

1. Brought 10-12 people into lab (all confederates, save one)
2. People were asked to judge which line matched the sample line, with actual participant going last
3. Found that two thirds of participants would go along with wrong answer but say right line by themselves

Question 92

Influence can change beliefs: Newcomb

Answer 92

1. Looked at social and political attitudes in small liberal U.S. college, recruited students from conservative backgrounds
2. Started off conservative, by the time they left were liberal

Question 93

Who carried out the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) in the early 1970s?

Answer 93

Philip Zimbardo, in the basement of Stanford University’s Psych Department

Question 94

What was the aim of the SPE?

Answer 94

To find out how social roles affect individual behaviour - especially the roles of guard and prisoner

Question 95

Who took part in the SPE?

Answer 95

1. Advertised for male college students to take part in a 2 week prison simulation, tested 75 participants to ensure that they were all “mature, emotionally stable, normal, and intelligent”
2. 24 participants were selected

Question 96

What was the initial set up of the SPE?

Answer 96

1. Prisoners wore chains on one ankle, smocks without underwear, rubber sandals, cap made from nylon stockings
2. Prisoners given numbers as identification
3. Guards wore khaki uniforms, sunglasses, carried a whistle and night stick
4. Guards were referred to as “Mr. Correctional Officer”
5. Zimbardo was the prison superintendent and Jaffe (his student) was the assistant warden

Question 97

How were SPE participants (prisoners) transported to the study grounds?

Answer 97

Arrested by police, fingerprinted, blind-folded, stripped naked, deloused, taken to detention cell (6 x 9 feet to hold three people)

Question 98

What were the three phases of the SPE?

Answer 98

1. Settling in period
2. Guards taking their role more seriously
3. Guards becoming galvanised

Question 99

What characterised the SPE settling in period?

Answer 99

Guards and prisoners didn’t take roles seriously, prisoners made fun of guards

Question 100

What happened during the SPE “guards taking their roles more seriously” period?

Answer 100

One prisoner was thrown into “the hole” (closet), prisoners swore at guards, refused to follow orders and barricaded themselves in their cells

Question 101

What happened during the SPE “guards becoming galvanised” period?

Answer 101

1. Called for reinforcements
2. Broke into barricaded cell, stripped prisoners and forced ringleader into the closet
3. Harassed and intimidated prisoners, divide and conquer (those not in rebellion given special privileges)
4. Over next 4 days, guards becoming increasingly brutal (roll calls last hours, prisoners made to: do push ups, clean toilets with bare hands, and play homoerotic games)

Question 102

How many days until the SPE was stopped?

Answer 102

6 days

Question 103

What happened to Zimbardo over the course of the SPE?

Answer 103

Began to act like an authority figure and became more concerned with prison security than the wellbeing of the participants

Question 104

What do the findings of the SPE suggest?

Answer 104

Ordinary people can be transformed by their immediate context/social role to perform brutal acts

Question 105

Who drew on the SPE findings?

Answer 105

1. Browning’s 1992 “Ordinary Men” book claims that Nazis were ordinary men put in a certain role
2. Used to explain torture of prisoners in Abu Gharib, assaults in Naru detention centre, U.S. police violence

Question 106

Critique of the SPE: Demand characteristics (cues that indicate research objectives to participants –> can make participants behave differently)

Answer 106

1. Zimbardo suggested push ups as a good punishment, suggested putting grass burrs in prisoners’ blankets
2. Zimbardo’s lack of intervention might have made guards think they were doing well in the experiment

Question 107

Critique of the SPE: Were participants “normal”? (Carnahan & Macfarland, 2007)

Answer 107

1. Compared personality profiles of people who agreed to take part in study on prison life
2. Found that those who agreed were more: Authoritarian, machiavellian, narcissistic, and socially dominant - less empathetic and altruistic

Question 108

What proportion of guards became sadistic?

Answer 108

1. Third of guards were sadistic, another third were kind, and final third were fair
2. One guard resigned because he couldn’t go through with it

Question 109

Critique of SPE: Guards may have seen themselves as research assistants

Answer 109

Zimbardo’s student Jaffe told guards “You have to get involved, be what we call a tough guard”

Question 110

Critique of SPE: Us vs. them

Answer 110

Zimbardo used terms like “we” for the guards and himself, “they” for prisoners –> us vs. them, sadistic guard behaviour

Question 111

Studies inspired by the SPE: Lovibond et al. 1979

Answer 111

1. Australian prison study under democratic, participatory, or authoritarian conditions
2. In democratic and participatory conditions, guards were told to treat prisoners with respect and include them in decision-making, but not in the authoritarian condition
3. Found that in the authoritarian condition, guards’ behaviour became toxic

Question 112

Studies inspired by the SPE: Reicher & Haslam 2006

Answer 112

1. BBC prison study looking at behaviour of men assigned to either prisoner or guard roles for 2 weeks
2. Guards not told what to do, study overseen by an ethics committee
3. Found that guards disagreed amongst themselves about their role, prisoners developed shared identity and resisted guards –> guards disillusioned and prisoners developed sense of efficacy

Question 113

Conclusions about the SPE:

Answer 113

1. People need to identify with roles to take them on, change behaviour
2. Shared identity of the oppressed group can help them resist
3. For high status group, shared identity can lead to brutality when promoted by tyrannical leader
4. Certain kinds of people may be attracted to certain contexts
5. Context can be transformed by individual, individual can be transformed by context

Question 114

When was SPE prisoner 8162 released?

Answer 114

Before Day 3 due to fake mental breakdown, which sorta turned into a real one?

Question 115

What did SPE guards do after false escape rumours?

Answer 115

Upped level of harassment, took down and then rebuilt prison

Question 116

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment (MOE) - who, when, and where?

Answer 116

Carried out by Stanley Milgram at Yale University in the 1960s

Question 117

What motivated the MOE?

Answer 117

World War II, and particularly Adolf Eichmann’s 1961 trial (claimed he was simply following orders - what might an ordinary person be capable of with certain orders?)

Question 118

MOE set up:

Answer 118

1. 40 participants, aged 20-50, recruited through advertisement in local paper
2. Met by experimenter who introduced them to another participant (actually a confederate) - participant was always the teacher, confederate was always the learner
3. Told them they were in an experiment about the effect of punishment on memory

Question 119

What happened during the MOE?

Answer 119

1. Learner strapped into chair with electrodes attached to body, explains that they have a heart condition and are worried - assured by the experimenter that the shocks cause “no permanent damage”
2. Teacher taken to separate room where they sit in front of shock generator (30 switches ranging from 15 [slight shock] - 450 [danger XXX])
3. Teacher asked learner questions (gave response via intercom), told to shock them when they made a mistake, increase shock by 15 volts each time - at this stage, teacher given sample shock of 45 volts
4. If teacher got to 450, told to continue with that level for further errors. If a participant continued to the maximum level, they were instructed to continue at 450 volts for subsequent errors.

Question 120

Levels of learner (confederate) response in MOE:

Answer 120

1. 75 volts - grunt (ugh)
2. 150 volts - demanded to be released (get me out, my heart is bothering me)
3. 180 volts - screamed (I can’t stand the pain)
4. 225 volts - agonised screams
5. 315 volts - intensely agonised screams (let me out repeated multiple times)
6. 345 volts - silence

Question 121

Findings of the MOE, reasons for those findings

Answer 121

1. Findings: 65% of teachers (participants) went to 450 volts
2. Reasons:
   Responsibility transferred to the experimenter (legitimate authority figure)
   Gradually built up to the 450 volts
   People identified with the experiment and experimenter
   Experimenter was direct, legitimate as an authority figure, and consistent

Question 122

What are four factors that influence obedience?

Answer 122

1. Remoteness of victim
2. Closeness and legitimacy of authority figure
3. Diffusion of responsibility
4. Characteristics of the teacher

Question 123

Factors that influence obedience: Remoteness of victim

Answer 123

1. When teacher (participant) and learner (confederate) were in the same room, obedience dropped to 40%
2. When teacher had to make contact with learner by pressing their hand onto a shock plate, obedience dropped to 30%

Question 124

Factors that influence obedience: Closeness and legitimacy of authority figure

Answer 124

1. Obedience highest when authority close by and seen as legitimate
2. When experimenter left room, gave orders by phone, or an ordinary participant gave instructions, obedience dropped to 20%
3. When experimenter called halt to study, but learner wanted to go on, obedience dropped to 0%
4. Two arguing experimenters –> obedience at 0%

Question 125

Factors that influence obedience: Diffusion of responsibility

Answer 125

1. When another person gave shock and real participant performed a lesser role, obedience was at 93%
2. When people made to feel fully responsible or told to give shocks to close relatives, obedience was at 0%
3. When teachers tested in groups and others in group decide to stop, obedience is only 10%

Question 126

Factors that influence obedience: Characteristics of teacher

Answer 126

1. When women are teachers, they obey just as much as men
2. Authoritarians more likely to obey
3. If people identify with the victim, they are less likely to obey

Question 127

Ethics of the MOE

Answer 127

1. Over 50% reported experiencing some level of discomfort
2. Milgram claimed that no-one who took part suffered lasting damage - most said the experiment was enriching and instructive (<1.3% regretted taking part)

Question 128

Studies inspired by the MOE: Slater et al. 2006

Answer 128

Virtual reality simulations of the MOE, findings consistent with Milgram’s

Question 129

Studies inspired by the MOE: Haslam et al. 2015

Answer 129

Immersive digital realism - where actors are trained to play the role of normal participants, findings consistent with those of the MOE

Question 130

Studies inspired by the MOE: Burger 2009

Answer 130

Only went up to 150 volts (80% of participants in the MOE that went this far proceeded to 450 volts), findings consistent with those of the MOE

Question 131

What do the MOE findings mean?

Answer 131

1. People are obedient to the extent that they identify with the experimenter (look to others that they trust and identify with to determine how to act)
2. People like Eichmann were true believers

Question 132

Levels of prodding in the MOE:

Answer 132

1. Please continue
2. The experiment requires you to continue
3. It is absolutely essential that you continue
4. You have no other choice but to continue - final prod doesn’t work

Question 133

Definition of prejudice

Answer 133

The holding of derogatory attitudes or beliefs, the expression of negative affect or the display of hostile or discriminatory behaviour toward members of a group on account of their membership in that group - Brown & Lepore 1996

Question 134

Describe the authoritarian personality (Adorno et al. 1950)

Answer 134

1. Personality type that is overly deferential to those in authority and hostile to those considered inferior
2. Associated with very conventional value system in which right and wrong are very distinct
3. Minority groups openly derogated

Question 135

Adorno

Answer 135

1. Coined concept of the authoritarian personality, worked from a Freudian perspective (claimed that authoritarian personality was derived from childhood)
2. Theorised that the authoritarian personality was the result of:
   Harsh and demanding parents who stifle child’s basic instincts (e.g. wanting to be violent when not getting own way) –> displacement of child’s aggression to other disempowered groups –> end up being over-deferential and submissive to authority figures, hostile to minorities

Question 136

Describe the Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)

Answer 136

Attitudes reflective objective interests of in-group, two implicit assumptions:
1. If interests of two groups coincide, relations between groups will be harmonious
2. If there is conflict of interest, relations will be hostile

Question 137

Robbers Cave experiment (Muzafer Sherif, 1950s) set up:

Answer 137

1. Adults in camp trained researchers
2. Boys aged 12, all from white middle-class homes and screened before study (only those from stable homes admitted - effects of experiment can’t be attributed to social or psychological deprivation)

Question 138

What happened in Stage 1 of the Robbers Cave experiment?

Answer 138

1. Boys divided into two groups, underwent normal camp activities
2. Initially given tasks that emphasised cooperation - participants developed their own norms, names, hierarchies, etc.

Question 139

What happened in Stage 2 of the Robbers Cave experiment?

Answer 139

1. Two groups (the Rattlers and the Eagles) brought together, brought into competition
2. Series of contests with prizes for winning group, nothing for losing one
3. First part of this stage: harmony between groups; second part: hostility (name-calling, fights, raids on each other’s cabins)
4. Found that even before being in competition for resources, once learning of the other group’s existence wanted to compete and prove themselves better

Question 140

Minimal group paradigm (MGP)

Answer 140

The MGP is an attempt to create an “empty environment” where researchers can systematically add variables that might elicit discrimination; ensures that no other factors that influence prejudice can impact results (group membership assigned arbitrarily)

Question 141

MGP (Tajfel et al. 1971) set up:

Answer 141

1. Code numbers and group membership labels used to designate in-group and out-group members
2. To guard against self-interest, participants denied opportunity to allocate resources to themselves

Question 142

Describe the MGP experiment (Tajfel et al. 1971)

Answer 142

Participants presented with a matrix for distributing money, were instructed to choose how much they gave to in-group vs. out-group

Question 143

Findings of the MGP (Tajfel et al. 1971)

Answer 143

People show discrimination against out-group, possibly due to wanting to be accepted by members of the in-group