Social Psychology

• Milgram: what were the aims of this study?

  to investigate whether ordinary people would follow orders and give innocent people a potentially harmful shock
• Milgram: explain Milgram's sample

  it was a volunteer sample used for males only, open for all occupational backgrounds excluding students
• Milgram: explain Milgram's sample

  the age range was 20-50 years
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure 


  Research took place at Yale university
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure 


  all participants were given the right to withdraw on arrival
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure

  participants were introduced to the experimenter and the confederate, then rigged lots were drawn to decide teacher and learner roles
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure 


  the teachers role was to give the learner a shock each time they got the answer wrong on a recall task, the voltage increased in 15v increments, all the way to 450v
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure 


  the teacher and learner communicated through intercom, the learner was pounding on the wall as shocks were delivered
• Milgram: explain Milgram's procedure

  if participants protested on continuing, standardised prompts were used
• Milgram's variations: explain variation 7

  in this variation, instructions were given over the telephone
• Milgram's variations: what were the results of variation 7

  there was a lower percentage of obedience at 22.5%
• Milgram: what were the results of this study?

  there was 65% overall obedience and 100% obedience up to 300 volts
• Milgram: what were the conclusions of this study?

  findings show ordinary Americans are surprisingly obedient to legitimate authority
• Milgram's variations: explain variation 10

  this variation was conducted in a run down office block, the participants were told the experiment was being run by a private firm
• Milgram's variations: what were the results of variation 10

  48% of participants were fully obedient
• Milgram's variations: explain variation 13 


  in this variation the orders were given by an ordinary man
• Milgram's variations: what were the results of variation 13?

  20% were obedient and 80% refused to continue.
• Who heavily criticised Milgram's research on ethical grounds?

  Diane Baumrind
• What criticisms did Diane Baumrind make of Milgram's research?

  she stated that Milgram didn't protect participants from harm, she claimed that the benefits of the findings didn't outweigh the costs.
• What criticisms did Diane Baumrind make of Milgram's research?

  she claimed that the levels of deception were unnecessary
• What criticisms did Diane Baumrind make of Milgram's research?

  she claimed that participants did not have the right to withdraw and were pressured to stay due to verbal prods
• Sherif: what were the aims of this study?

  to look at intergroup relations over a period of time in order to investigate group formation, the effect of competition and the conditions under which conflict could be resolved
• Sherif: what was the setting of this study?

  It was set in Robbers Cave camp, Oklahoma
• Sherif: what was the setting of this study?

  the camp was for two weeks
• Sherif: what was the sample of this study?

  200 boys from schools in Oklahoma were recruited through an opportunity sample
• Sherif: what was the sample of this study?

  22 boys, they were all middle class and protestant, none of which knew each other
• Sherif: explain stage one of sherif's experiment

  this is the stage of group formation, the boys took part in the non-competitive activities so they would bond with their group.
• Sherif: what was the result of stage one of this study?

  group labelling, the boys called themselves "the rattlers" and "the eagles"
• Sherif: explain stage two of this study

  this was the stage of friction, the groups learned each others existence, the researchers then created a tournament with prizes and medals
• Sherif: what was the result of stage two of this study?

  fights and name calling
• Sherif: explain stage three of this study

  this was the stage of reducing friction, superordinate goals were introduced to encourage cooperation and reduce hostility.
• Sherif: explain stage three of this study

  the tasks of stage three included increased social contact, for example: eating together and watching movies together
• Sherif: what were the conclusions if this study?

  Intergroup competition leads to increased in-group favouritism and solidarity along with out-group hostility
• Hofling: what were the findings of this study?

  it was found that when a confederate doctor asked a nurse to administer twice the daily dose of a drug to a patient, which was against hospital policy, telling the nurse he would sign the prescription later, most were obedient.
• Hofling: what were the results of this study?

  21/22 nurses administered a potentially dangerous dosage to patients
• Hofling: how did the doctor give the orders in this study?

  over the phone
• Burger: what were the aims of this study?

  to see whether Milgram's finding were era bound and whether obedience if affected by gender as well as personality traits.
• Burger: what personality traits did Burger look at?

  empathetic concern and desire for personal control
• Burger: what was the sample of this study?

  70 adults, men and women, acquired through a volunteer sample
• Burger: what were the ethical safeguards Burger put in his procedure?


  the shocks stopped at 150v to avoid high levels of anxiety