the social area Flashcards
what does social psychology believe humans behaviour is influenced upon?
other people and the social context in which this occurs
what do social psychologists deal with?
the factors that lead us to behave in each way in the presence of others, and the conditions in which certain behaviours/actions/feelings occur
THE CLASSICAL STUDY
MILGRAM (1963)
what is the background to milgram’s study?
the big moral question - how the horrors of the second world war happened? how could it be prevented? were these people ‘monsters born to kill’? or could these atrocities have been committed by ordinary people acting under authority?
what was milgram’s aims and hypothesis?
to find out if naive participants would obey orders from authority, even if it went against their moral values
were germans different from the rest of society?
what was milgram’s sample?
40 male participants (andocentric) aged between 20 and 50, from the new haven area USA
how were participants obtained in milgram’s study?
self selected sample
= obtained by a newspaper advertisement
= volunteers to participate in a ‘study of memory’ and ‘learning’
what university did milgram’s study take place in?
Yale university
what was milgram’s research method?
it is considered a controlled observation
NOT an experiment = no IV
how was data gathered for milgram’s study?
by both observations by the experimenter who was in the same room as the participant and others who observed through a one way mirror
prior to the study, what did all 14 psychology majors estimate to be the percentage of participants who would administer the highest level of shock?
1-3%
what was the DV in milgram’s study?
which level of shock participants would administer
outline the procedure of milgram’s study
- the 40 participants were ALWAYS given the role of the teacher through a fixed lottery (a biased coin toss)
- the teacher ALWAYS witnessed the learner (a confederate) get strolled into a chair with (non-active) electrodes attached to his arms
- they were given a trial shock of 45v to stimulate genuiness
- the teacher then sat in front of an electric shock generator in an adjacent room - the machine had 30 switches ranging from 15v to 450v, in 15v increments
- the teacher had to conduct a paired word test on the learner, for each wrong answer, an electric shock of increasing intensity had to be given
- the teacher was watched over by the experimenter, who responded with a series of standardised prods e.g please continue/please go on
- the learner (mr wallace) via a tape recording, gave a set of predetermined responses
- at 300v, the learner pounded on the wall and thereafter made no further replies
- the study finished when either the teacher refused to continue (was disobedient or reached 450v)
what was unethical about milgram’s debrief?
for some participants, it only occurred a year later
what were the key findings of milgram’s study?
all participants, 40/40 (100%) continued to 300v
65% of participants continued to the full 450v
many participants showed signs of extreme stress : sweating, trembling, stuttering, 3 had seizures
what were the conclusions of milgram’s study?
- inhumane acts can be done my ordinary people
- people will obey others that they consider legitimate authority, even if what they were asked to do goes against there moral beliefs
- individual differences such as personality, influence the extent to which people will be obedient
what is a strength of milgram’s research method?
takes place in a controlled lab (controlled observations), reduces extraneous variables e.g shock levels
what is a weakness of milgram’s research method?
participants knew their behaviour was being studied, creating demand characteristics
give strengths of milgram’s validity?
because participants were deceived about the aims of the study, behaviour should be natural, accurately measuring obedience (face validity)
give weakness of milgram’s validity?
low in population validity
= sample doesn’t represent the target population e.g it being androcentric
low in ecological validity
= artificial task
give strengths of milgram’s reliability
standard procedure for all participants
e.g standardised prompts from the experimenter
= makes the procedure replicable
what is a weakness of milgram’s sampling bias
- relatively small sample, only 40 participants
- all male participant, andocentric
give examples of milgram’s study being ethnocentric
all participants from the same area of the USA, conclusions of external factors (situational) on obedience, can not be generalised to milgram’s hypothesis of Germans being different, as he did not test Germans,
outline milgram’s ethical issues
- lots of deception
- lack of informed consent
- debrief a year later
- no protection from harm, physically and psychologically
THE CONTEMPORARY STUDY
BOCCHIARO (2012)
what is the background of bocchiaro’s study?
in milgram’s study, we found that people have inclinations to obey legitimate authority, regardless of their believes, feelings or intentions, however, it is impossible not to consider that certain behavioural contexts are likely to reduce the power of individual factors in predicting behaviour
what was bocchiaro’s sample?
sample 1 - 138 students were asked what they would do in this scenario
main sample - 149 undergraduate students (96 women, 53 men, mean age =20.8)
took part for either €7 or course credit
what was bocchiaro’s research method?
‘scenario study’
took place in a laboratory, at the VU university in amsterdam
how was bocchiaro’s study standardised?
- the procedure
- the cover story
- timings were kept the same
etc.
what were the DVs of bocchiaro’s study?
whether participants obeyed, disobeyed or whistle blowers
what were the 2 personality inventories before the study?
- the dutch version of the 60-item HEX-ACO-PIR
- nine item decomposed games measure
what did these personality inventories measure?
social value orientation (SVO)
how many pilot tests were there? why were they necessary?
8 pilot tests, involving 92 undergraduates
these tests were conducted to ensure the procedure was credible, standardised and morally acceptable
the comparison group, sample 1 were asked what?
what they would do? what the average student at your university do?
outline the procedure of bocchairo’s study?
- each participant was greeted by the dutch experimenter who was formally dressed and had a stern demeanour
- the experimenter proceeded to ask each participant to provide a few names of fellow students
- then they were presented the cover story; which was a recently conducted experiment on six participants in Rome who were used to investigate the effects of sensory deprivation on brain function
- they were then told the experimenter wanted to replicate this study at the VU university, using a sample of college students
- participants were told the university research committee was evaluating whether to approve the study and were collecting feedback from those students who knew details about the experiment
- participants were then to write a statement to convince their student friends to participate in the study
what was in the second room in bocchiaro’s study?
either an anonymous research committee form if they believed the proposed research violated ethical norms
or had a computer to write their statement to their fellow students
how were participants told to act in their statement to their fellow students?
they had to use at least two adjectives amongst ‘exciting’ ‘incredible’ ’great’ ‘superb’
what were they key statistical findings of bocchiaro’s study?
comparison group :
3.6% obey
31.9% disobey
64.5% whistleblow
experimental group:
76.5% obey
14.1% disobey
9.4% whistleblow
what were the key findings of bocchiaro’s study?
no statistically significant differences were found between individual differences groups, however a significant different was observed regarding faith
what qualitative data did they find in bocchiaro’s study?
qualitative data proving individuals obeyed because of external forces, ‘it was expected of me, that’s why i continued’ ‘i cooperated because the experimenter asked me to’
qualitative data proving individuals who disobey were responsible for their own actions, ‘i don’t want to do unethical things, i would be extremely disappointed in myself’ ‘i would not want to be responsible for that’
conclusions of bocchiaro’s study
- people tend to obey authority figures, even if the authority is unjust
- how people think they will act in a situation, often differs from what actually happens, particularly when circumstances are unfamiliar or extreme
- behaving in a moral manner is challenging for people
- whistleblowers have more faith than those who obey or disobey
give a strength of bocchiaro’s research method
takes place in a controlled lab
= extraneous variables are controlled
e.g each participant had the same cover story
give a weakness of bocchiaro’s research method
due to the high levels of control, it creates an artificial setting
= setting and the task do not reflect everyday behaviour
give an example of bocchiaro’s study being high in validity
high in internal validity
= laboratory
= measures what it intends to
give examples of bocchiaro’s study being low in validity and how
low in ecological validity
= laboratory
= artificial task
= not reflective of real life obedience
how is bocchiaro’s study reliable?
follows a standardised procedure
e.g it follows the same cover story throughout
= increases the consistency of results
= reliable and replicable
= supports psych as science
give a strength of bocchiaro’s sample?
relatively large sample
(138 and 149)
= high in population validity
= representative of the target population
= able to generalise results on obedience
give a weakness of bocchiaro’s sample?
only undergraduates
= unrepresentative of a wider population
e.g are students more obedient than any other group in society, for example, because they are used to obeying teachers and parents etc
how is bocchiaro’s sample ethnocentric?
only typical of one class, culture and country
= low in population validity in this aspect
how was bocchiaro’s study ethically inconsiderate?
- failed to protect their participants from psychological harm
- deceptive nature
= decreases the reputation of psychology for future funding or/and recruitment of participants
what applications does the cognitive area provide us with?
- in advertising and marketing, we have learnt authority figures are a perfect way to make people more likely to obey
- in education system, reinforcing authority, e.g though Mr or Mrs, encourages students to be more obedient towards their teachers
- whistleblowing policies in the workplace have been created to make people aware of immoral actions
similarities of milgram and bocchiaro’s study
- both in a laboratory
- both ethnocentric
- both a relatively biased sample
- both low in ecological validity
- both a self-selected sample
differences of milgrams and bocchiaro’s study
M = just 40 males
B = 149, including 96 women
M = ethically inconsiderate
B = more ethically considerate
M = controlled observation
B = scenario study
did milgrams study follow an individual or situational explanation of behaviour
milgrams study concluded that people obeyed because of the situation they were in rather than individual traits
did bocchiaro’s study follow an individual or situational explanation of behaviour
his study also showed that situational factors are more important than individual ones, as there was no difference in measures of personality between those obedient and those not
did milgrams follow a free will or deterministic explanation of behaviour?
a deterministic explanation
= he claimed external factors (the presence of legitimate authority) was the reason people obeyed
did bocchiaro follow a free will or deterministic explanation of behaviour?
a deterministic view
= situational causes reflects behaviour
how did both bocchiaro’s and milgram support psych as science?
- quantitative data
- standardised procedure
- controlled environment
HWR no IV
give strengths of the social area
- provides situational explanations
= which allow us to improve or understandings of human behaviour and their surroundings - practical applications
- deterministic
= suggests behaviour is due to situational pressures in our environment
= show a clear cause and effect
= supports psych as science
give weaknesses of the social area
- often ethically inconsiderate
= lacks usefulness
= damages the reputation of psychology for future funding and participation - often ethnocentric
= findings often can not be accurately generalised across cultures - fails to understand the influence of individual differences in behaviour
= deterministic explanations may be applied to all people, which is not valid
