Social

• Describe the Social area.

  This are looks at how behaviour can be explained in terms of social context. Social psychology looks at how people interact with one another. We are affected by both individuals and groups.
• Strengths of explaining behaviour using the social area.

  This area has real world relevance- we can use it to explain situations.

  Also has many practical applications e.g in jury service.
• Weaknesses of explaining behaviour using the social area.

  This area lacks generalisability- not everyone behaves in the same way.

  A lot of research is quite unethical.
• Milgram theory/ background

  Looked at obedience, wanted to see whether Nazis soldiers were following orders or not and whether Americans would act similarly.
• Milgram design.

  Was a controlled observation gathered in a laboratory setting.
• Milgram Sample.

  Was a self-selected sample with 40 males between 20 and 50
• Milgram results.

  It was estimated only 1.2% of participants would go to 450 volts but 65% went to the full 450 volts. All participants went to 300 volts.
• Milgram conclusion.

  These results suggest that people obey authority figures even if it goes agains their moral code.
• Bocchiaro theory/background.

  Looks at whistle-blowers , disobeying and the certain characteristics that affect whether we obey or disobey.
• Bocchiaro design.

  Was a laboratory STUDY like milgram.
• Bocchiaro sample.

  149 undergraduate students from a uni in Amsterdam- self selected sampling.
• Bocchiaro procedure part 1.

  1.Similar students before hand given description of study and had to say what they would do .

  
  

  2.Participants were individually greeted by a formally dressed Dutch Experiment with firm demeanour .

  
  

  3.They were given an ethical debriefing- they could leave at anytime and they had to give the names of a few students as well.
• Bocchiaro Procedure pt.2.

  4. They were then given a cover story which outlined a fake but unethical experiment.

  
  

  5. They told them an italian colleague was researching effects of sensory deprivation, they said it involve people isolated with no noise or sound. They were also told participants couldn't leave and it was very frightening and they had hallucinations.

  
  

  6. They were told they were going to replicate the study and the effects would be more severe on younger people.
• Bocchiaro Procedure pt.3.

  7. They were then told they had to convince the people they named earlier to take part in this experiment.

  8. The experimenter left for 3 minutes to think came back moved them to a room with computer (with a mailbox to post statements and a research committee form) then told them they couldn't say anything about the negative effects and had to use 2 positive adjectives. Then he left again.

  9. If they wrote the statement they were seen as obedient if they hadn't they were disobedient and if they filled in the form a whistle-blower.
• Bocchiaro results.

  76.5% obeyed 9.4% whistleblew
• Bocchiaro conclusions.

  These findings suggest people obey authority figures even if the authority is unjust and find it challenging to resist the social power of an authority figure.
• Pilivian theory/background

  Looks at the bystander effect ( a diffusion of responsibility) also looks at bystander apathy (someone else will help).
• Piliavin aim.

  They wanted to study bystander behaviour outside the laboratory setting and they wanted to see whether helping behaviour was affected by four variables.- victims responsibility(drunk/ill), race, the effect of modelling helping behaviours and the size of the group.
• Piliavin design.

  Field experiment carried out on NYC subway.
• ivs and dvs of pilivan's study.

  IVS-

  1.Type of victim (drunk/ill)

  2. race,

  3. the effect of modelling helping behaviours and

  4. Number of bystanders.

  DVs-

  1.Frequency of help 2.speed of help 3. race of helper 4.sex of helper 5. movement out of critical area 6. verbal comments made.
• Piliavin Sample.

  Around 4,450 men and women.
• Piliavin procedure.

  Confederate "victims" collapse on the subway- they are either pretending to be drunk or ill. Either 70 seconds into the journey or 150 seconds a confederate "model" comes and helps them to a sitting position. Observers note the race, sex and location of everyone on the train (critical/adjacent) and length of time for first helper to arrive.
• Piliavin results.

  Cane victim received spontaneous help 95% of time compared to 50% in drunk victim.

  AND

  There was a slight tendency for same race helping.
• Piliavin conclusions.

  These findings suggest that a person who is ill is more likely to receive help than one who appears to be drunk- could be because of less perceived risk.

  AND

  These findings suggest that there is a tendency for same race helping- might be because people are more likely to help people that they see are similar to them.
• What is cost-benefit in piliavin.

  Whether the benefits of helping outweigh the costs.
• Levine background/theory.

  Looks at individualism vs collectivism and simpatia countries (more helpful to others) and population size and how these link with helping behaviours.
• Levine aim.

  Wanted to see look at helping behaviours in a wide range of cultures.

  Wanted to look at population size, poor or rich, cultural values and pace of life.
• Levine design.

  Was a field experiment which involved 23 large cities from around the world.
• Levine ivs and dv.

  iv- 1. whether victim dropped a pen,

  2. whether victim had a hurt leg,

  3. whether victim was blind trying to cross the street.

  
  

  dv- the helping rate of the 23 countires.
• levine sample.

  1,198 found during business hours during summer months.
• Levine results

  Simpatia countries were on average more helpful than non-simpatia

  AND

  no relation with population size and pace of life

  AND

  no significant gender differences.
• Levine conclusions.

  These findings suggest that helping behaviour in non-emergency situations varies between cultures.
• Methodological issues - research methods.

  Milgram- Lacks ecological validity and mundane realism.

  Bocchiaro- little weakness good control of extraneous variables.

  Piliavin- Many extraneous variables as its on a subway.

  Levine- same as piliavin.
• methodological issues- type of data.

  All use quantitative data which makes plotting and analysing results easier.
• Methodological issues- ethnocentrism.

  All studies guilty of ethnocentrism even levine as the study had mainly countries in the americas and europe.
• methodological issues- ethical issues.

  Milgram- Some participants faced physical harm like seizures and verbal prods made it difficult to withdraw. They were also decieved.

  Bocchiaro- involved deceit.

  Piliavin- participants couldn't give consent, they were decieved and there was no debrief.

  Levine- Same as piliavin .
• Methodological issues- validity.

  Milgram- Artificial environment meant research lacked ecological validity.

  Bocchiaro- lacked population validity.

  Piliavin- high levels of ecological validity.

  Levine- same as piliavin.
• Methodological issues - reliability.

  Milgram- degree of control and standardisation so high levels of reliability

  Bocchiaro- degree of control and standardisation

  Piliavin- study was carried out in a natural setting so internal reliability was poor.

  Levine- large numbers of people used to collect data so it was difficult to asses standardisation between experimenters.
• Methodological issues- sampling.

  Milgram- All participants were male- androcentric + lacked population validity.

  Bocchiaro- self-selected so there may be sampling bias.

  Piliavin- was during work hours- only used people who would likely be in work or school.

  Levine- only took samples from central business districts- issues of representativeness .
• Debates- psychology as a science.

  Milgram- lab setting so control over extraneous variables.

  Bocchiaro- lab setting so control over extraneous variables.

  Piliavin- Hypothesis was falsifiable and objective quantitative data was recorded.

  Levine- They replicated the study many times and followed a standardised procedure. However, difficult to control extraneous variables.