strengths and weaknesses of social approach

Question 1

2 strengths of milgram’s baseline study of obedience x2

Answer 1

• replicability
• ethics (debriefed + right to withdraw)

Question 2

what did milgram and his colleagues think the pp’s would do (%)

Answer 2

1/1000 would go to 450V

Question 3

weakness of Milgram’s baseline study of obedience x2

Answer 3

• lacks ecological validity
• not generalisable to women, ethnic minorities, ages above 50+, and people outside of new haven

Question 4

strength of variation 7 telephonic instruction

Answer 4

• application to school teachers, must make sure they are present in room

Question 5

weakness of variation 7 telephonic instruction

Answer 5

• lacks ecological validity

Question 6

strength of variation 10 run down office block

Answer 6

• ecological validity (town of Bridgeport in Connecticut

Question 7

weakness of variation 10 run down office block

Answer 7

• demand characteristics, pp’s may have guessed nature of experiments due to cues

Question 8

strength of variation 13 ordinary man gives orders

Answer 8

• ethical considerations (debriefed and pleased at the end of experiment)

Question 9

weakness of variation 13 ordinary man gives orders

Answer 9

• quite artificial as learner had to go considerable lengths to persuade teacher to continue shocking even while the experimenter was gone.

Question 10

strengths of burger 2009 x2

Answer 10

• generalisable due to diverse sample
• ethical considerations (45V -> 15V real shock test) + 2 step screening process decreasing excessive stress

Question 11

weaknesses of Burger (2009) x2

Answer 11

• lacks task validity (abnormal to be ordered to shock someone if they get work pair wrong)
• only partial replication of Milgram’s study, can only assume pp’s would’ve shocked higher after 150 V based on milgram’s results.

Question 12

strengths of agency theory x2

Answer 12

• supported by Milgram’s baseline as pp’s knew what they were doing was wrong but continued to do it anyway
• application to society, make the military question orders that are morally wrong to them

Question 13

weaknesses of agency theory x2

Answer 13

-other explanations of obedience e.g. legitimate power in higher positions/coercive power ability to punish = suggests cause of obedience is more complex than theory suggests
-individual differences doesn’t explain why some obey and some don’t e.g. 35% did not obey to shock to 450V

Question 14

strengths of social impact theory x2

Answer 14

• theory is supported by Latane’s observation such as finding that people will tip more when given an individual bill than a shared bill = explains how number affects obedience.
• application: predict behaviour in social situations e.g. school = immediacy of teacher in class

Question 15

weaknesses of social impact theory x2

Answer 15

• limited in prediction e.g. 2 equal football teams in strength and number
• over simplifies the nature of human interaction ignoring individual differences e.g. some are more resistant to social impact than others = not a good measure of human behaviour and interaction

Question 16

strengths of robbers cave experiment x2

Answer 16

• ecological validity
  -reliable as boys were matched based on sporting ability and IG so individual differences wouldn’t effect attitudes/judgements = cause and effect can be drawn

Question 17

weaknesses of robber’s cave experiment x2

Answer 17

• not generalisable to other cultures, children with less sporting ability, adults
• no informed consent, boys didn’t know they were part of a study

Question 18

strengths of realistic conflict theory x2

Answer 18

• supported by robbers cave experiment: when boys competing against each other they noticed hostile attitudes
• application can help explain discrimination against ethnic minorities e.g. white ppl in US 70s saw black ppl as a threat to life styles, goals, jobs rather than attitudes formed at childhood

Question 19

weaknesses of realistic conflict theory x2

Answer 19

• boys were hostile before competition introduced = social identity theory
• tyerman and spencer english boy scouts, boys knew one another b4 and were friendly during competition = more about context/situation than competition

Question 20

strengths of social identity theory x2

Answer 20

• supported by sherif’s study which showed 2 boy groups being hostile to each other b4 competition
  -application to tackle prejudice (create 1 big group)

Question 21

weaknesses of social identity theory x2

Answer 21

• competing theory with RCT
  -underestimates importance of individual differences, some ppl more in favour of in group over out group depending on personality/culture , that emphasise collectivism + cooperation, these cultures are less likely to demonstrate prejudice = cant generalise every group of ppl and how they will react to certain situations.