Social psychology

• What are the 5 ethical guidelines?

  1. Debrief

  2. Informed consent

  
  

  3. Deception

  
  

  4. Right to withdraw

  
  

  5. Competence
• What are the 4 ethical principles?

  1. Respect

  2. Competence3. Responsibility4. Integrity
• What is the aim of sampling methods?

  To ensure a representative sample of participants is used, so can be successfully generalised.
• Obedience

  Obeying direct orders from someone in authority
• Compliance

  Going along with what someone says, while not necessarily agreeing with it, often with peers rather than those in authority
• Conforming

  Doing something against the individual's own inclinations, but not doing with the intention of matching the behaviour of the majority.
• Where did Milgram conduct his study?

  Yale University
• What was the background of Milgram's research?

  Focused on conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. Justifications for acts of genocide during WWII.
• Milgram's aim?


  Whether ordinary people will follow orders and give an innocent person an electric shock, and what conditions would increase or decrease the level of obedience.
• What sampling method did Milgram use?

  Volunteer sampling - advert in a local newspaper
• What participants did Milgram ask for?

  Male of military occupations
• What did Milgram say his study was about?

  Memory and learning
• How much money were the participants paid?

  $4
• How many participants were in Milgram's study?

  160 - 4 conditions, so 40 participants in each
• How many confederates in Milgram's study?

  2 - the experimenter and Mr Wallace
• What were the roles?

  Rigged - participant was always the teacher and Mr Wallace was the learner.
• What was the voltage of the sample shock?

  45V
• How many switches sin the shock generator?

  30 switches increasing in 15 volts from 15V to 450V
• What did the participant have to do?

  Teach the learner a list of word pairs and shocks were administered if an incorrect pair was given.
• What were the 4 verbal prods?

  1. Please continue

  2. The experiment requires you to continue3. It is absolutely essential that you continue4. You have no other choice but to continue, you must go on
• How many variations are there in Milgram's study?

  18
• Remote-feedback condition?


  Learner banged on wall at 300V and refused to answer after 315V
• Verbal feedback condition

  At 75V, learner grunts. 120V shouts that it is painful. 135V painful groans. 150V shouts "Experimenter get me out of here". 270V agonising screams. 300V refusal to continue.
• Proximity condition

  Learner could be seen and heard as the learner and teacher are in the same room
• Touch proximity condition

  Learner has to place his own hand on the shock plate to receive the shock. At 150V refuses to continue and experimenter orders teacher to force the learner's hand on the shock plate.
• What was given to the participants in the end of Milgram's study?

  Debrief and a follow-up questionnaire
• What did Milgram conclude?

  When learner could not be seen or heard, participant was more likely to follow orders. Provides evidence that people will obey orders given to somebody in a role of authority, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being.
• Strengths in Milgram's original study

  • Right to withdraw given
  • Deception was a necessity because the research was studying obedience, so prevents demand characteristic
  • Lab experiment - standardised procedure, scripted, quantitative and qualitative data gathered. Good controls, so replicable and reliable
  • Debriefed
• Weaknesses in Milgram's original study

  • Verbal prods and incentive prevents withdrawal from study
  • Stress was deliberately caused to the participants
  • Lacks ecological validity
  • Androcentric, ethnocentric, sampling method affects generalisability
  • Deception 4 times - shocks not real, Mr Wallace, not a study on memory and learning, allocation of roles
• What changed for variation 7?

  Experimenter is not present and gives instructions through phone calls
• What did variation 10 consist of?

  Rundown office block

  A rundown office building in Bridgeport was used. Shows that location impacts level of obedience.
• What did variation 13 consist of?

  Ordinary man gives orders

  Experimenter was an ordinary man. 1st confederate was the learner, 2nd confederate was the experimenter. Experimenter takes a phone call, and teacher is told to continue. Learner suggests that they should increase the shock level each time he makes a mistake.
• What were the Self-administered shocks?


  Learner has to administer shocks to himself. If participant refuses, the teacher witnesses self-administered shocks.
• What factors affect obedience?

  • Situation
  • Culture
  • Personality
  • Gender
• Describe the effect of situation on obedience

  • M+R had a control group showing that giving them the choice affected their obedience
  • Milgram's variations, less pressure from authority figure resulted in lower obedience, such as rundown office block and telephonic instructions
• Describe the effect of culture on obedience

  • Milgram found obedience in American people, so is not different to Germans
  • It could be human nature to obey in certain situations
  • M+R used less severe punishment, so results were due to that and not different culture (Holland)
  • Schurz carried out a study in Austria using bursts of ultrasound, got an 80% obedience
  • Blass reviewed studies and found an average obedience level. US= 60.94% and other countries= 65.94%.
• Which types of personality affect obedience?

  Authoritarian personality and internal/ external locus of control
• Describe the effect of authoritarian personality on obedience

  • Milgram found that caring jobs showed less obedience. Catholics showed more obedience. People in armed forces showed high obedience (ex-officers showed less obedience than non-officers)

  -Milgram and Elm: 'obedient group' and 'defiant group'. Defiants showed more social responsibility so led to obedience.

  • Blass, people high in authoritarian personality were less likely to blame those punishing the learner
• Describe the effect of gender on obedience

  • Milgram's study using female participants found 65% obedience, but showed more distress
  • Shanab and Yahya found females were more visibly anxious
• What is the background for Burger's study?

  Interested in whether people still obey an authority figure. Felt that although society's culture and values have changed since 1960s, this would not have a significant effect on obedience.