QCAA Unit 4 annotated bibliography Psychology

Holfing, CK, Brotzman, E, Dalrymple, S, Graves, N & Pierce, CM 1966, 'An experimental study in nurse-physician relationships', Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, vol. 143, pp. 171-180, https://psnet.ahrq.gov/resources/resource/4070.

Charles Holfing is a psychiatrist at the College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, USA. He and his colleagues sought to investigate whether the results of Milgram's obedience study could be replicated in a series of field experiments with nurses. • The procedure used an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group consisted of 22 (real) night nurses who were unaware that they were involved in an experiment (referred to as 'naïve'). The procedure involved Dr Smith (a stooge) phoning each nurse on separate occasions and asking them to check if they had the drug Astroten (a fake medication). When the nurse checked, they saw that they did have the drug and the maximum dosage was 10 milligrams. • The doctor then instructed each nurse to administer 20 milligrams of Astroten to a patient called 'Mr Jones'. He said he was in a hurry and would sign the authorisation form when he saw the patient later that night. The nurses were unaware that they were being observed by experimenters, and were stopped at the door to the patient's room before they could administer the drug. • The control group consisted of 12 graduate and 21 student nurses, who answered a questionnaire asking them what they would do in similar circumstances to the experimental part of the procedure (as above). • The hospital had three rules on drug administration that meant the nurses should have refused the doctor's request. Nurses are not allowed to accept instructions over the phone. The dose should not exceed the maximum limit as stated on the medication. Medications that are not on the authorised list should not be administered. • The results were that 21 out of 22 nurses in the experimental group went to administer Astroten to the patient of those 21, only 11 were aware of the dosage limits of Astrogen, and most nurses said the situation was not unusual of the nurses who completed the questionnaire (the control group), 10 out of the 12 graduate nurses and all 21 student nurses said they would not comply with the order. • The researchers concluded that people are unwilling to question supposed 'authority', even when they have good reasons to do so.

Sheridan, CL & King, RG 1972, 'Obedience to authority with an authentic victim', Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, vol. 80, pp. 165-166, http://holah.co.uk/files/sheridan_king_1972.pdf

Charles Sheridan is a researcher at the University of Missouri and Richard King Jr is a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, USA. They sought to investigate the validity of Milgram's (1963) obedience paradigm in a more authentic situation. • In this study, the learner (a puppy) was given graded shocks. The amperage of the shocks was limited to avoid serious harm to the puppy, but was still strong enough to elicit behaviours such as running, yelping and howling. • There were 13 male and 13 female participants. They were told their job was to stand in for the experimenter to limit the chance of experimenter bias. Their role involved delivering a shock to a puppy as it learned to discriminate between flickering and steady lights. • The participants helped to place the puppy in a box that had a signal light at one end and a shock grid floor at the other. They were then taken to an adjacent room that had a 'shock generator' similar to that used by Milgram, ranging from 15 volts to 450 volts. Unlike Milgram's experiment, the subject (puppy) received actual shocks, though only at three different voltage levels. The first produced foot flexion and occasional barks, the second produced running and vocalisation, and the third resulted in continuous barking and howling. The room had a one-way mirror, which allowed participants to view the puppy throughout the experiment. • Participants were told to take the puppy through a series of 'discrimination training' trials. They were instructed to electrify the grid after each error the puppy made (defined as the lack of correspondence between the puppy's right or left position to those indicated on a program sheet), increasing the shock level by 15 volts for each error. The participants were not aware that the puppy could not see the signal lights (flickering/steady) and was not learning anything during the experiment. • Similar to Milgram's experiments, protests on the part of the participants were met with a series of prods from the experimenter, ranging from 'Please continue' to 'You must go on, there is no choice!'. If participants refused to go on after four prods, the session was terminated. Participants were debriefed after a series of four prods or after the final shock level was reached. • The results showed that 54% of male participants obeyed to the end of the shock cycle. A surprising finding was that 100% of female participants obeyed to the end of the shock cycle. The difference between male and female participant obedience was statistically significant (p < .02). • The researchers concluded that participants are willing to follow repugnant commands, even when it is clear that the victim is truly receiving shocks. They suggested that research should be undertaken to further investigate the sex differences in the results of this study.

: Aronson, E & Mills, J 1959, 'The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 177-181, doi:10.1016/0022-1031(66)90084-9, http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Motivation/Aronson_Mills_1959_The_effect_of_severity_of_initiation.pdf.

Elliot Aronson is an American psychologist best known for his experiments on the theory of cognitive dissonance. At the date of publication, Judson Mills was a researcher at the US Army Leadership Human Research Unit. • The experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that people who undergo an unpleasant initiation to become members of a group increase their liking for the group, i.e. they find the group more attractive than people who become members without going through a severe initiation. This hypothesis was derived from Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. • 63 college women volunteered to take part in the experiment. They agreed to participate in discussion groups and were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: a severe initiation condition, a mild initiation condition and a control condition. In the severe condition, participants were required to read embarrassing material before joining the group, in the mild condition the material they read was not embarrassing and in the control condition subjects were not required to read any material before becoming group members. • Each participant then listened to a recording that appeared to be an ongoing discussion being conducted by a group that she had just joined. Afterwards, participants filled out a questionnaire evaluating the discussion and the participants. • The results showed statistically significant differences between participants in the severe and control conditions, and the severe and mild conditions clearly supported the hypothesis, because the participants who underwent a severe initiation perceived the group as being significantly more attractive than those who underwent a mild initiation or no initiation at all (control).

: Festinger, L 1957, A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

In this book, Festinger proposes a theory of cognitive dissonance. His theory suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony (dissonance). This is sometimes referred to as the principle of cognitive consistency. • Festinger contends that a state of impasse exists in learning theory, largely because some of its major assumptions stand in apparent opposition to certain well-established experimental results. The theory of cognitive dissonance seems to reconcile this. This new theory can account for data with which other theories have difficulty it integrates empirical phenomena that have been regarded as unrelated is supported by the results of experiments designed specifically to test its implications. • These experiments are fully described in the text. • In general, the theory proposes that dissonance can be alleviated in three ways change one or more of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviours to make the relationship between the two elements a consonant one acquire new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs reduce the importance of the cognitions, i.e. beliefs, attitudes. • The research in the book used to support the theory can be divided into three main areas forced compliance behaviour decision-making effort.

Brehm, JW 1956, 'Post-decision changes in the desirability of alternatives', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 384-389, doi: 10.1037/h0041006, http://web.comhem.se/u52239948/08/brehm56.pdf.

Jack Brehm was a professor emeritus at the University of Kansas, USA, at the time of writing this paper. His primary research interests were attitudes, beliefs, emotion, mood affect and motivation. • This study was concerned with the consequences of making a choice. It was designed to test the following predictions. Choosing between two alternatives creates dissonance and a consequent pressure to reduce it. The dissonance is reduced by making the chosen alternative more desirable and the unchosen alternative less desirable after the choice has been made. The magnitude of the dissonance and the consequent pressure to reduce it are greater the more closely the alternatives approach equal desirability. Exposing a person to new relevant cognitive elements, at least some of which are consonant, facilitates the reduction of dissonance. • The procedure involved 225 female students at the University of Minnesota who were required to rate each of a variety of objects on desirability choose between two of the objects rate the desirability of each object again. • Participants were asked to provide ratings in the context of consumer research. The dependent variable was the change in desirability between the chosen and unchosen alternatives. • The results supported the first and second predictions, but not the third.

: Bargh, JA, Chen, M & Burrows, L 1996, 'Automaticity of social behaviour: Direct effects of trait construct and stereotype activation on action', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 71, no. 2, pp. 230-244.

John Bargh, Mark Chen and Lara Burrows are researchers at New York University, USA. • Previous research had found that trait concepts and stereotypes become active automatically in the presence of relevant behaviour or stereotyped-group features. This experiment sought to determine whether social behaviour is also capable of automatic activation by the presence of features in the environment. • To investigate they conducted three experiments. • In experiment one, 44 participants were primed with rude, polite or neutral words while completing a test. They were then instructed to meet the experimenter in a room down the hall. On arriving, the experimenter was seemingly talking to another participant (confederate) about the next task. The time taken for the participant to interrupt the conversation was measured (up to 10 minutes). The results showed that those participants in the rude condition interrupted significantly faster than those participants in the neutral and polite conditions. • In experiment two, 60 participants were primed with an elderly stereotype or neutral words while completing the same test as experiment one. After completing the test, the participants were dismissed. The time taken for the participant to walk down the corridor after exiting the laboratory was recorded. The results found that those participants who had been primed with the elderly stereotype had a statistically slower walking speed compared to participants in the neutral condition. • The third experiment sought to activate an African American stereotype that had been shown in previous research to elicit hostile behaviour. To do this, they used a computer program that showed flashes of subliminal pictures of either a young African American male face or a Caucasian male face, while participants completed an odd or even number recognition task. On the 130th trial, the computer alerted the participant of a 'data-saving failure' that required them to complete the test again. Participant facial responses and reactions were recorded by a hidden camera. Two coders blind to the experiment then rated participant responses on a 10-point hostility rating scale. The results found that participants primed with subliminal photographs of African American faces behaved in a more hostile fashion compared to participants in the Caucasian faces condition. When asked, participants did not identify that they had seen any faces in the testing, so the independent variable was truly hidden. • Researchers concluded that social behaviour can be triggered automatically by features of the environment. Furthermore, they assert that social behaviour is like any other psychological reaction to a social situation, capable of occurring in the absence of any conscious involvement or interventions.

Darley, JM & Latane, B 1968, 'Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 377-383, doi:10.1037/h0025589

John Darley is a researcher at New York University and Bibb Latane is a researcher at Columbia University, USA. In this study, they investigated why, in some instances, people do not help those in need. They were drawn to this topic after a young woman was stabbed to death in the middle of the street in a residential section of New York City. Out of 38 observers, not one came to her assistance. • The researchers hypothesised that people do not fail to help because of 'moral decay' or 'alienation', but because of the presence of bystanders. They suggested that the more bystanders present in an emergency, the less likely (or the more slowly) any one bystander will intervene to provide aid. • 59 female and 13 male participants agreed to take part in what they were told was a study interested in learning about the kinds of personal problems faced by normal college students in a high pressure, urban environment. Participants were placed into a booth (to protect them from the potential embarrassment of sharing personal information) where they were given a set of headphones and a microphone. They were told that when it was their time to speak, the microphone would be on for two minutes. Participants were led to believe that they would hear other similar participants speaking when, in fact, they were listening to recordings. • When the experimenter left the room, the future 'victim' spoke first and the naïve participant spoke last. When it was again the victim's turn to speak, they feigned going into a seizure state and asked for help. • The dependent variable in the experiment was the time taken for the participant to report the seizure to the experimenter. This was measured from the beginning of the seizure up to six minutes. If the participant did not report the seizure after six minutes, the experiment was terminated. • The experiment had one major independent variable, which was the number of people present. This variable had three levels a two-person group (victim and naïve participant) a three-person group (victim, confederate voice and naïve participant) a six-person group (victim, four confederate voices and naïve participant). • Within the three-person group, researchers attempted different combinations of male and female confederates and victims to determine if sex had any impact on reporting. • The results of the experiment were as predicted. The presence of bystanders reduced the individual's feelings of personal responsibility and lowered the speed of reporting (p < .01). • Researchers concluded that the explanation for why people do not tend to help others may lie more in the bystander effect than in their indifference to the victim.

Dunn, KM 2004, 'The uneven experience of racism', paper presented at The Uneven Geographies of Hope Workshop, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, 15 February, www.uws.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/27115/HOPE_WRIT.pdf.

Kevin Dunn is a senior lecturer in geography in the faculty of the built environment at The University of New South Wales, Australia. • This paper begins by examining the background of racism in Australia, quoting Dr Mary Zournazi, a senior lecturer in sociology, whose primary research areas are social justice, hope, culture and emotions, and communal belonging. It purports that reports from anti-racism agencies and non-government organisations have consistently found that racism in Australia is a substantive social problem. They have attempted to link the problem to levels of despair in the population. • The paper details an investigation in 2001, in which 5056 residents of Queensland and New South Wales completed a telephone survey to gather data on 'racist attitudes' and 'experiences of racism'. Respondents were asked how often, if ever, they had experienced discrimination because of their own ethnic origin, across nine spheres. Four were settings of 'institutional racism', e.g. workplaces, education settings, when seeking to rent or buy a house, and when dealing with police. The other five were settings of 'everyday racism', e.g. shops, restaurants, public events. • The results found that 15 percent of Australians had experienced racism in the workplace and in education about one-quarter of Australians reported that they experience 'everyday racism', such as racist abuse reporting experiences of racism was considerably higher among indigenous Australians (more than double than non-indigenous Australians), those who speak a language other than English (almost four times that of English-speaking Australians) and those born overseas (similar to the previous group). • The paper concludes by detailing longstanding processes of cultural imperialism and how these processes reinforce everyday racism in Australia. Future directions are suggested in terms of investigating whether there is a relationship between geographies of hope (or hopelessness) and racism.

Gould, L 1983, 'X: A fabulous child's story', in Stories for Free Children, Pogrebin, LC (ed.), McGraw Hill, New York

Lois Gould was an American writer known for her novels and other works about women's lives. This story is a fictional piece for children first published in Ms. magazine in 1972. • 'X: A fabulous child's story' is a short story that questions gender roles and society's views on how to raise a child. • The story is about a baby given to parents who have agreed to keep its sex a secret, as part of a huge, expensive scientific experiment. They are given a thick handbook to help them navigate future problems, from how to play with X to dealing with boys' and girls' bathrooms at school. • While other adults react to X with hostility, X's schoolmates eventually start imitating X's freedom in dress and play. Finally, the school community demands that X be examined, physically and mentally, by a team of experts. If X turns out to be a boy, then he will have to start obeying all the boys' rules; if X turns out to be a girl, then she will have to start obeying the girls' rules. And if X turns out to be 'very mixed up', then X will be expelled, and a new rule will be introduced that forbids any more children like X from coming to the school. • After the examination, X turns out to be the 'least mixed-up child' ever examined by experts. • The story concludes by saying that X knows what it is, and that 'by the time it matters which sex X is, it won't be a secret anymore'.

Wedekind, C, Seebeck, T, Bettens, F & Paepke, AJ 1995, 'MHC-dependent mate preferences in humans', Proceeding of the Royal Society, vol. 260, no. 1359, pp. 245-249, doi:10/1098/rspb.1995.0087.

Research on animals has shown that one substantial benefit of sexual reproduction could be that it allows animals to react rapidly to continuously changing environmental selection pressures, such as co-evolving parasites. • Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) plays an important role in the immune system autoimmunity, and has been shown to influence mate choice in mice. Human noses can distinguish between strains of MHC, and these researchers sought to investigate experimentally whether human body odour and female mate preferences are MHC-dependent. • Researchers recruited 49 female and 44 male participants. The procedure involved each male student wearing a T-shirt for two consecutive nights. The next day, each female student was asked to rate the odour of six T-shirts (three with similar, three with dissimilar MHC ratings to the female) and a control T-shirt for pleasantness and intensity. • The results showed that the women scored male body odours as more pleasant when their MHC rating differed than when there were similar reported that the odours of MHC-dissimilar men reminded them more often of their actual or former mates than the odours of MHCsimilar men who were taking the contraceptive pill had contrary results (preferred MHC-similar). • The researchers concluded that this finding suggests that MHC (or linked genes) influence human mate choice.

Haney, C, Banks, C & Zimbardo, P 1973, 'A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison', Naval Research Review, vol. 30, pp. 4-17, www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo-paper.pdf.

The aim of the study was to investigate whether being assigned as a guard or a prisoner would result in significantly different reactions on behavioural (interaction) and emotional measures (mood state, pathology, attitudes towards self). Additionally, researchers sought to assess people's ability to cope and adapt to the situation. • Researchers created an experimental simulation of a prison in the Stanford University psychology department. 22 male participants were selected based on responses to a questionnaire and interview questions. They were then randomly assigned to the role of guard or prisoner. The guards worked in sets of three, working 8-hour shifts. Prisoners were confined 24 hours a day. • In an attempt to simulate an authentic prison situation, participants were arrested without warning in their homes and taken to the local police station where they were fingerprinted, photographed and charged. They were then taken to 'prison'. The experiment attempted to mimic the prison experience as closely as possible — inmates were given uniforms and referred to by number only. Guards were also given a uniform. The behaviour of the prisoners and the guards was observed throughout the study. • The findings of this experiment were that guards and prisoners settled into their respective roles quickly. Within hours, guards started to harass the prisoners, taunting them with insults and giving them push-ups and pointless, boring tasks as punishment. Over only a few days, prisoners became submissive and eager to please the guards by informing on each other. The paper details a number of incidents that occurred, including a rebellion, a mass escape plan and prisoners suffering emotional breakdowns. One prisoner (#819) suffered great emotional strain, which eventually led to the experiment being terminated only six days after it began. • From this experiment, researchers concluded that people readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play. This is especially true if the roles are as strongly stereotyped as those of prisoners and prison guards. • The findings support the situational, not dispositional, explanation of behaviour.

Asch, SE 1951, 'Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments', in Guetzkow, H (ed.) Groups, Leadership and Men, pp. 222-236, Carnegie Press, Pittsburgh

The aim of this study was to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group causes a person to conform. • 50 male students from Swarthmore College, USA participated in what was described as a vision test — a line judgment task. The methodology used was a laboratory experiment. • The procedure involved the placement of each participant in a room with seven confederates. The confederates agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented with the line judgment task. The participant was unaware of this and was led to believe that the other seven people in the study were real. • When presented with the line judgment task, each participant had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line. The answer was always obvious. The real participant was at the end of the row and always gave their answer last. There were 18 trials in total, and confederates gave the wrong answer for 12 of the trials (called critical trials). The results measured the number of times each participant conformed to the majority view. • The results show that on average, approximately one-third (32%) of the participants conformed to the clearly incorrect majority in the critical trials in the 12 critical trials, about 75% of participants conformed at least once and 25% of the participants never conformed in the control group, with no pressure to conform to confederates, less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer. • Asch concluded that this study provides evidence that people will conform to fit in with the group (normative social influence) because they believe that the group is better informed than they are (informational influence). Interviews with participants after the experiment confirmed this.

: LeFebvre, L, Blackburn, K & Brody, N 2014, 'Navigating romantic relationships on Facebook: Extending the relationship dissolution model to social networking environments', Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 78-98

This article explores how people use social networking sites to adjust to breakups by studying their post-dissolution behaviours. In particular, it explores relationship termination and how breakups do not constitute communication finality; rather, relationships can continue to live on in communication and memories, especially through technology. • The researchers used Rollie and Duck's (2005) relationship dissolution model to study 208 collegiate Facebook users (77 males, 131 females). They examined how these users behaved on Facebook during breakups. • Participants completed a survey in which they reported on romantic relationships that had ended in the past two years. They were further asked to rate the seriousness of the romantic relationship who initiated the break-up how frequently they had communicated face-to-face with their former romantic partner how frequently they used Facebook. • Participants were then asked to recall their breakup via several open-ended questions. • To analyse the survey and interview data, researchers used an interpretative approach and grounded theory analysis. • The results revealed that online behaviours overlapped with the dissolution model. • The researchers concluded that similar to the stages in the dissolution model, individuals were seen to modify their online relationship status, 'unfriend' previous partners and limit their profile access in order to manage relationship dissolution.

Markey, PM & Markey, CN 2007, 'Romantic ideals, romantic obtainment and relationship experiences: The complementarity of interpersonal traits among romantic partners', Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 517-533.

This research applied three different models of complementarity to romantic ideals, romantic obtainment and the quality of romantic relationships. The aim of the research was to investigate whether one model better predicts the type of personality one tends to desire and actually obtain in a romantic partner which personalities complement each other to produce loving and harmonious romantic relationships. • The three models were Carson's (1969) model of interpersonal complementarity, i.e. individuals similar to each other on warmth but opposite on dominance are most compatible Wiggin's (1979) model of complementarity, i.e. individuals whose personalities occur in the same manner predicted by social exchange theory are most compatible the model of similarity, i.e. individuals with similar personalities are most compatible. • The researchers undertook two separate studies. The first study sought to investigate romantic ideals only. 169 undergraduate students were recruited. They answered a number of questionnaires about their own personality, as well as that of their romantic ideal. The second study sought to investigate romantic obtainment and relationship quality. 106 heterosexual couples were recruited. To meet the criteria, they had to have been in a monogamous relationship with their partner for at least one year. Participants completed questionaries on their own personality and their relationship quality. • The results from the first study indicated that single males and females thought their romantic ideal was someone with a personality very similar to their own, supporting the model of similarity. This was further supported by the results of the second study, which found that people tended to end up with a romantic partner who had a similar personality to their own. Additionally, the results from the second study on relationship quality showed that Carson's model was the best predictor of the most loving and harmonious relationships experienced by the participants. • Researchers concluded that individuals tend to desire a romantic partner who has a personality similar to their own, but that those people who actually experience the most loving and harmonious relationships have romantic partners who are similar to themselves in some characteristics but not in others, e.g. dominance/submissiveness.

Anderson, CA, Deuser, WE & DeNeve, KM 1995, 'Hot temperatures, hostile affect, hostile cognition and arousal: Tests of a general model of affective aggression', Personal and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 434-448

This study comprised two experiments. The first experiment examined the effects of hot temperatures on arousal, cognitive state and hostile affect. Researchers used convenience sampling to recruit 59 female and 48 male participants. A repeated measures design was used in the experiment. The experiment assessed both perceived arousal (self-report questionnaires) and physiological arousal (blood pressure). Frustration level was manipulated to increase the chances that an appropriate background level of annoyance was included. The results found that hot temperatures produced increases in hostile affect, hostile cognition and physiological arousal. The second experiment also used a repeated measures design with a sample of 43 participants (23 females, 20 males). Half the participants were assigned to a comfortable condition and the other half were assigned to an uncomfortable condition. The procedure involved participants entering a normal, warm or hot room, where they completed questionnaires. Participants were then instructed to complete 10 minutes of exercise. Following the exercise, measures of heart rate, blood pressure, perceived arousal, state hostility and general affect were taken. Participants then completed additional questionnaires. The results were that hot temperatures produced decreases in perceived arousal and general positive affect. • The researchers concluded that hot temperatures may increase aggressive tendencies. Hostile affect, hostile cognitions and excitation transfer processes may all increase the likelihood of biased appraisals of ambiguous social events in a hostile direction.

Cao, Y, Contreras-Huerta, LS, McFadyen, J & Cunnington, R 2015, 'Racial bias in neural response to others' pain is reduced with other-race contact', Cortex, vol. 70, pp. 68-78, doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2015.02.010.

Yuan Cao is a researcher at the Queensland Brain Institute and the school of psychology at the University of Queensland, Australia. • Previous research demonstrates that when observing the pain of others, greater activation is shown in the sensory and emotional areas of the brain. This represents a neural marker for empathy in the brain. Additionally, this modulation of brain response to others' pain is dependent on the race of the observed person, i.e. observing own-race people in pain is associated with greater activity in the brain areas (e.g. anterior cingulate and bilateral insula cortices) compared to other-race people. • Yuan and colleagues studied newly-arrived immigrants to Australia to determine whether racial bias to pain in other-race individuals changes over time, and whether this depends on the level of quality contact with people of the other-race. • They recruited 30 right-handed Chinese students (18 females, 12 males) from the University of Queensland. All participants had lived in Australia for less than five years and had been born and completed all primary and secondary schooling in mainland China. • The procedure involved assessing the participants' level of contact with other races across different social contexts, using comprehensive rating scales. Participants then observed videos of own-race/other-race individuals and own-group/other-group individuals receiving a painful or non-painful touch. Researchers observed changes in the function of participants' brains during this stage of the procedure using fMRI technology. • The results showed the typical racial bias in neural responses to observed pain in own-race compared to other-race people. Crucially, activation in the anterior cingulate to pain in other races increased significantly with the level of contact participants' reported with people of the other race. Another important finding was that this correlation did not depend on the closeness of contact or personal relationships, but simply on the overall level of experience with people of the other race in their everyday environment. • Researchers concluded that racial bias can be observed in neural responses to others' pain, as a neural marker of empathy. Additionally, it appears that these responses decrease with increasing levels of contact with people of the other race in everyday life contexts.

Buss, DM, Abbott, M, Angleitner, A, Asherian, A, & Biaggio, A et al. 1990, 'International preferences in selecting mates: A study of 37 cultures', Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 5-47.

• David Buss is an associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of Michigan, USA. He is a leader in social psychology research, especially mating, conflict, relationships and gender differences, in terms of social behaviour. • This research aimed to investigate cultural differences in mate selection in 33 countries across six continents and five islands. In total, 9474 participants were recruited. • Participants were asked to complete two questionnaire-based instruments one that asked about factors used in choosing a mate (e.g. what the individual would like in their relationship in the future) one that asked about preferences for a partner (e.g. physical attraction, financial situations, personality). • This study used a quasi-experimental and a correlational design to establish key mate selection differences between cultures. • The results indicated that the largest difference across cultures was their views about chastity. This tended to be the most valued trait for participants from Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Home, children and good housekeeping were characteristics that varied in importance between cultures. Western cultures generally found these traits to be somewhat irrelevant, whereas African cultures indicated that these traits were invaluable. There were very few differences on mate characteristics, showing these to be universally important in mate selection. • The study concluded that although there are large variations in some of the preferences for mate characteristics, in general there were many common characteristics that were important to both sexes and across all cultures.

Matsumoto, D 2007, 'Emotion judgments do not differ as a function of perceived nationality', International Journal of Psychology, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 207-214, doi:10.1080/00207590601050926, http://davidmatsumoto.com/content/2007%20Matsumoto%20IJP.pdf.

• David Matsumoto is a professor of psychology at San Francisco University, USA, whose areas of expertise include culture, emotion and facial expressions. He is also the director of Humintell, a company that provides 'unique training in the fields of facial expression of emotion, nonverbal behaviour, detecting deception and cultural adaptation'. • Previous research has shown that people of different cultures differ in their overall levels of emotion recognition (Masumoto 1989, 1992). The mechanism underlying this difference, however, is not clear. It has been suggested that cross-national differences in emotion recognition rates may be attributable to implicit assumptions about nationality made by the observers. This research sought to investigate the relationship between emotion judgments and the perceived nationality of those being judged. • This paper details three experiments. • The first experiment used a sample of 125 American students and 61 non-American born international students. Participants were told that they would be 'judging faces of people who may be feeling an emotion'. They were shown stimulus from the Japanese and Caucasian Facial Expressions of Emotion (JACFEE) set. Participants were asked to select from a list an emotion that the face was displaying speculate about what the expresser was likely to do next judge the expresser's nationality. The results showed that observers do not reliably make implicit assumptions about the nationality of the expresser in judgment tasks. • The second experiment used a sample of 75 American and 67 Japanese student participants. There was also a control group of another 120 American students. Similar to the first study, participants were asked to judge the emotion of faces of people displayed using the JACFEE set; this time they were told the nationality of the people in the pictures. Participants completed fixed-choice judgments and provided intensity ratings. • The third experiment used the same procedure, but with 121 American students only. They were given similar instructions but completed a multi-scaler rating task. • The results of experiments two and three demonstrated that informing observers of the nationality of expressers does not affect their judgments. • Matsumoto concluded that people do not alter their emotion judgments based on the perceived nationality of the expresser being judged. This suggests that international and intercultural communication can be aided by accurate communication of basic emotions, despite cultural differences.

: McMillan, DW & Chavis, DM 1986, 'Sense of community: A definition and theory', Journal of Community Psychology, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 6-23, www.drdavidmcmillan.com/article-1.

• David McMillan and David Chavis were researchers at George Peabody College, Vanderbilt University, USA. • This article attempts to describe the dynamics that make up a 'sense of community'. • It begins with a review of literature investigating sense of community, including the scales developed to probe community behaviours and attitudes. It then goes on to articulate a definition and theory for sense of community. The proposed definition has four elements Membership is the feeling of belonging or of sharing a sense of personal relatedness. Membership has five attributes boundaries emotional safety a sense of belonging and identification personal investment a common symbol system. Influence is a sense of mattering, of making a difference to a group, and of the group mattering to its members. The following propositions concerning influence can be drawn from group cohesiveness research. Members are more attracted to a community in which they feel that they are influential. There is a significant positive relationship between cohesiveness and a community's influence on its members to conform. The pressure for conformity and uniformity comes from the needs of the individual and the community for consensual validation. Influence of a member on the community and influence of the community on a member operate concurrently. Integration and fulfilment of needs is the feeling that members' needs will be met by the resources received through their membership in the group. To summarise the role of integration and fulfilment of needs in a sense of community, the following are relevant. Reinforcement and need-fulfilment is a primary function of a strong community. Some of the rewards that are effective reinforcers of communities are status membership, success of the community, and competence or capabilities of other members. There are many other undocumented needs that communities fill, but individual values are the source of these needs. A strong community is able to fit people together so that people meet others' needs while they meet their own. Shared emotional connection is the commitment and belief that members have shared and will share history, common places, time together and similar experiences. Strong communities are those that offer members positive ways to interact important events opportunities to honour members opportunities to invest in the community opportunities to experience a spiritual bond among members. • The article then provides examples of different community groups, e.g. university sports, youth gangs and the kibbutz, and uses the definition to explain various processes in each community type. • The authors conclude by asserting that their wish is that this article will intensify the search for ways to strengthen the social fabric with the development of a sense of community.

Madsen, EA, Tunney, RJ, Fieldman, G, Plotkin, HC, Dunbar, RIM, Richardson, J-M & McFarland, D 2006, 'Kinship and altruism: A cross-cultural experimental study', British Journal of Psychology, vol. 98, no. 2, pp. 339-359.

• Elaine Madson is a researcher at University College, London. She and colleagues at various universities throughout the UK sought to investigate why humans exhibit an unusual level of prosociality (behaviour that benefits others). • In this study, they investigated the role of biological kinship in altruistic behaviour. Contrary to past research, which mainly used correlational evidence in support, they used an experimental procedure to control confounding variables and test Hamilton's rule of kin selection. Hamilton's rule (1964) states that, when all else is equal (particularly in altruistic economic terms), individuals more closely related should be favoured over those less closely related. • Researchers also sought to determine whether Hamilton's rule is universal or a Western phenomenon, by conducting the experiment cross-culturally. • Participants were either from the UK (experiments 1, 2 and 3) or two South African communities (experiment 3 only), which identified as ethnically Zulu. • Researchers used a repeated measures design across the three experiments to test the independent variable of 'kin relatedness' (including self, parent/sibling, grandparent/aunt/uncle/niece/nephew, cousin, best friend or charity) with the dependent variable of cost (measured as pain from physical exercise). The procedure involved participants being asked to incur the cost of pain from physical exercise (standard isometric ski-training exercise) in return for a proportionate material reward given to an individual or a charity. • The results were that in all three experiments, and across both cultural groups, participants generally expended more costs (did more physical exercise) for those with closer kin relatedness (e.g. parent, sibling) than they did for a charity. These results were especially strong for men in the sample. Women demonstrated that they were more likely to exert a greater cost for friends than men were. • The researchers concluded that their research provides the first compelling experimental evidence that humans abide by Hamilton's rule when making judgments about how to behave towards others.

Tajfel, H 1970, Experiments in Intergroup Discrimination, Oxford University Press, New York

• Henry Tajfel was a Polish social psychologist best known for his pioneering work on the cognitive aspects of prejudice and social identity theory. He conducted a number of experiments in Bristol, UK, in the 1970s. These experiments focused on the behaviour of an individual towards other in-group members and out-group members. • This study used 64 (all male) participants from 14-15 years of age from the same educational institution in Bristol. The experiment consisted of two parts. The first aimed to establish intergroup categorisation, while the second part aimed to assess the effects of this categorisation on intergroup behaviour. • In the first part of the experiment, the group was randomly divided into two groups of eight participants. They were told that they were categorised according to their scores on tests completed prior to the experiment. Each of the participants was instructed to allocate amounts of money to other participants. They were given a matrix, on which the top row recorded amounts that were to be awarded to a fellow group member, while the bottom row contained amounts that were to be awarded to members of the other group. The results of the first experiment found that the majority of participants allocated significantly greater amounts to members of their own group compared to the outsiders. • The second part of the experiment involved three new groups of 16 boys each, who were allocated to groups based on aesthetic preference for one of two paintings. They were faced with similar matrixes to the boys in the first experiment. However, this time they could decide whether to award money to benefit only their own group, or everyone in the study. The results of the second experiment showed that the boys chose to not allocate the money in a way that would maximise total group profit. Instead, a significant majority chose to allocate money for the good of only their own group. • Tajfel concluded that groups were more concerned about creating as much difference as possible between the amounts allocated to themselves and the other group than consolidating a greater amount for everyone. It showed an obvious form of discrimination caused by the segregation or categorisation of the boys that out-group discrimination was extraordinarily easy to trigger

Ross, LD, Amabile, TM & Steinmetz, JL 1977, 'Social roles, social control, and biases in social-perception processes', Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. 485-494, doi:10.1037/0022- 3514.35.7.485

• Lee Ross is a professor of social psychology and has studied attribution theory, attributional biases, decision making and conflict resolution. Ross and colleagues from Stanford University, USA, sought to investigate why people consistently fail to make adequate allowance for external factors when making inferences about other people's performance. • The researchers conducted two experiments. • For the first experiment, they recruited 18 male and 18 female pairs of participants to take part in a 'quiz game'. For the experimental condition, 12 pairs of participants were randomly assigned the role of either 'questioner' or 'contestant'. The questioner was instructed to construct ten 'challenging but not impossible' questions for the contestant. Six pairs of participants completed the control condition. The preparation period was followed by the 'quiz', in which questioners posed their questions to the contestants. In the control condition, each questioner posed pre-prepared questions to the contestant. After the session, the experimenter noted aloud the number of correct responses made by the contestant. All participants then completed a questionnaire, in which they rated their own and their partner's general knowledge. Researchers hypothesised that the participants would form relatively positive impressions of the questioners' general knowledge and relatively negative impressions of the contestants' general knowledge. The results supported this hypothesis. Questioners rated themselves as superior to their contestants and contestants rated themselves as far inferior to their questioners. In contrast, in the control condition, the ratings of the questioners and contestants were indistinguishable. Researchers also found significant sex differences, with female questioners tending to ask more difficult questions and subsequently rating themselves much higher than their contestants. • In the second experiment, researchers re-enacted the female pairings from the quiz game. Each simulation was observed by one male and one female observer (n = 48). The observers believed they were randomly assigned. At the conclusion of the re-enacted methodology, observers completed a similar questionnaire to that of the first experiment, but instead of rating themselves and their partner, they rated the questioner and contestant on their perceived general knowledge. The results indicated that observers' impressions of the participants in the quiz matched that of the first experiment, with the questioner seen as knowledgeable and the contestant as inferior. • Researchers concluded that this research provides support for the fundamental attribution error, i.e. the tendency to underestimate the role of situational determinants and overestimate the degree to which social actions and outcomes reflect the dispositions of others.

Festinger, L & Carlsmith, JM 1959, 'Cognitive consequences of forced compliance', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 203-210, doi:10.1037/h0041006, http://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Motivation/Festinger_Carlsmith_1959_Cognitive_consequences_of_forced_compliance.pdf.

• Leon Festinger was an American social psychologist at Stanford University, USA, and is often credited with advancing the use of laboratory experimentation in social psychology. J. Merrill Carlsmith, also a social psychologist, is best known for her collaborative work with Festinger and Elliott Aronson in the creation and development of cognitive dissonance theory. • Festinger first proposed a theory concerning cognitive dissonance in 1957. Two derivations of this theory are tested in this experiment. If a person is induced to do or say something that is contrary to their private opinion, there is a tendency for them to change their opinion to bring it into correspondence with what they have done or said. The larger the pressure used to elicit overt behaviour (beyond the minimum needed to elicit it), the weaker the above-mentioned tendency. • A laboratory experiment was designed to test these derivations. 71 male students studying introductory psychology at Stanford University were subjected to a boring experience. Afterwards, the procedure was split into three conditions; control, one dollar and 20 dollars. Those in the monetary conditions were paid to tell someone that the experience had been interesting and enjoyable. The control condition was not. The private opinion of all participants concerning the experience were then determined, using an interview technique and 10-point rating scale. • The results indicated that the average rating of the task was significantly greater (more enjoyable) for the one dollar condition than the control condition the difference between the one dollar and 20 dollar conditions was also significant, with participants in the 20 dollar condition rating the task significantly less enjoyable. • Researchers concluded that the two derivations of the theory were strongly corroborated by the experiment.

Wood, MA, Bukowski, WM & Lis, E 2016, 'The digital self: How social media serves as a setting that shapes youth's emotional experiences', Adolescent Research Review, vol. 1, pp. 163-173, doi:10.1007/s40894-015- 0014-8, https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40894-015-0014-8.pdf.

• Megan Wood and William Bukowski are researchers at the department of psychology and Centre for Research in Human Development (CRHD) at Concordia University, Canada. Eric Lis works at McGill University Psychiatry Perceptions of Emerging Technologies Labs in Canada. • This review begins by summarising the importance of friendships with peers in the transition from childhood to adulthood. It describes the role of social media — particularly social networking platforms such as Facebook — in the development and sustainability of these friendships, and how young people's use of such platforms has increased over the years. • The research suggests that social media use becomes much more prevalent from preadolescence to adolescence adolescents' usage exceeds that of adults adolescence is the developmental period in which social media is most likely to be used teenagers are less likely than younger age groups to be supervised while using online resources, putting them at greater risk of maladjustment than other age groups. young people primarily use social networking sites to connect with their friends for social purposes access a wide range of information. young people can experience both positive (e.g. opportunities for social contact) and negative (e.g. cyberbullying) effects when using social media boys are more likely to benefit from social media use (e.g. by building social skills) girls are more likely to experience negative effects (e.g. lower self-esteem).

Sherif, M 1954, 'Experimental study of positive and negative intergroup attitudes between experimentally produced groups: A robber's cave study', Mimeo, Norman, Oklahoma. Sherif, M, Harvey, OJ, White, BJ, Hood, WR & Sherif, CW 1961, 'Intergroup conflict and cooperation: The robber's cave experiment', vol. 10, University Book Exchange, Norman, Oklahoma, www.free-ebooks.net/ebook/Intergroup-Conflict-andCooperation-The-Robbers-Cave-Experiment/pdf?dl&preview. Sherif, M 1958, 'Superordinate goals in the reduction of intergroup conflict', American Journal of Sociology, vol. 63, pp. 349-356, https://brocku.ca/MeadProject/Sherif/Sherif_1958a.html.

• Muzafer Sherif was a Turkish American social psychologist best known for the development of social judgment theory and realistic conflict theory. He was often referred to as the founder of modern social psychology, because he developed several unique and powerful techniques for understanding social processes, particularly social norms and social conflict. • These publications summarise findings from a series of laboratory studies conducted in 1949 and 1954. • In this research, Sherif sought to test two main hypotheses. When groups in a state of conflict are brought into contact under conditions embodying superordinate goals (goals that are compelling but cannot be achieved by the efforts of one group alone), they will tend to cooperate toward these goals. Cooperation between groups (necessitated by a series of situations embodying superordinate goals) will have a cumulative effect in the direction of reducing existing conflict between groups. • The studies used healthy boys aged between 11 and 12 years of age. All the boys were socially well-adjusted and academically successful. All activities took part at a specially arranged campsite, completely under experimental control. • The experiments were typically conducted in three phases. Two groups were established independently by introducing specified conditions for interaction, e.g. problem-solving situations in which the attainment of the goal depended on the coordinated activity of all individuals. The groups were brought into functional contact in conditions perceived by the members of the respective groups as competitive and frustrating, resulting in members of the respective groups developing unfavourable attitudes and derogatory stereotypes of the other group. Superordinate goals were introduced, e.g. combating a water shortage that affected everyone, or securing a much-desired film, which could not be achieved by either group alone but required putting their resources together. • The results showed that superordinate goals were effective in reducing intergroup conflict. Sherif concluded that when the groups in a state of friction interacted in conditions involving superordinate goals, they cooperated in activities that lead toward the common goal a series of joint activities leading toward superordinate goals had the cumulative effect of reducing the prevailing friction between groups and unfavourable stereotypes towards the out-group.

Rollie, SS & Duck, SW 2005, 'Divorce and dissolution of romantic relationships: Stage models and their limitations', in Fine, MA & Harvey, JH (eds), Handbook of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution, pp. 223-240, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Mahwah, NJ.

• Rollie and Duck have extensively researched relationship breakdown and developed models that explain relationship interactions and communication. • In this chapter of the Handbook of Divorce and Relationship Dissolution, the authors consider relational change, specifically focusing on dissolution. They examine models of relational dissolution and consider their value in explaining relational change. • A number of different models have been proposed to explain relational dissolution. An early researcher, Simmel (1950) was one of the first to regard dissolution as a process rather than an event. From this research, many other researchers attempted to define the process through stage models. • Several models are presented in this chapter, including those classified as divorce and dissolution models, traditional models, and a new dyadic approach. Each model is evaluated based on its ability to explain the process of dissolution. • One of the best known and researched models is that proposed by Duck (1982). Duck proposed four phases or stages in the dissolution process the intrapsychic phase, an individual, internal process involving reflection on the state of the relationship generally, and the partner more specifically the dyadic phase, in which individuals reveal to the partner their concerns regarding the relationship and attempt to redefine the relationship the social phase, recognising that relationships are embedded in social networks, is when the news of the dissolution is shared with members of the social network the grave-dressing phase, in which individuals retrospectively make sense of the history of the relationship by developing an account that is used to cast the individual in a favourable light. • Duck (2005) later updated the model to emphasise changes in communication patterns throughout the process of dissolution. Additionally, Duck also added a fifth phase, resurrection. In this phase, the individual has learnt from the experience of the breakup and is now ready for a new relationship. The authors suggest that the resurrection phase involves preparation for a different sort of future. This phase often involves reworking and reframing the past relationship, seeking advice from others, and sharing self-enhancing stories in order to move forward. • The chapter concludes by evaluating the value of stage models. The authors suggest that models of relational dissolution are useful as research tools, but may have little benefit for people actually going through the process of dissolution. • The overall conclusion states that models neglect many of the key details needed to explain relationships, and are developed in a culturally and socially biased way. However, even though there are limitations, models have been able to help in the explanation and prediction of communication, the key characteristics of romantic relationships, and possible reasons for the breakdown of relationships.

Gottman, JM, Levenson, RW, Gross, J, Fredrickson, BL, McCoy, K, Rosenthal, L, Ruef, A & Yoshimoto, D 2003, 'Correlates of gay and lesbian couples' relationship satisfaction and relationship dissolution', Journal of Homosexuality, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 23-43.

• This research sought to investigate perspectives in homosexual relationships. Specifically, researchers aimed to investigate relationship satisfaction and dissolution in homosexual relationships. • 40 gay or lesbian couples (21-40 years of age) were recruited and rated as either having positive relationship satisfaction or negative relationship satisfaction based on a survey score. This score formed the groups for the study. • The couples were asked to engage in two conversations after being separated from each other for a period of no less than eight hours. Researchers recorded their interactions during a conflict resolution conversation and a normal everyday conversation. Physiological readings were also collected during this time. • The results showed that the characteristics that correlated with more relationship satisfaction included a sense of humour towards their partner, higher positive affect and behaviour during conversations, and a decrease in fear and tension. • It was concluded that these characteristics are the same as those found in positive heterosexual relationships possibly shows that relationship satisfaction between couples are correlated with partner characteristics rather than sexual orientation

Cialdini, RB, Demaine, LJ, Sagarin, BJ, Barrett, DW, Rhoads, K & Winter, PL 2006, 'Managing social norms for persuasive impact', Social Influence, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 3-15, doi:10.1080/15534510500181459, www.academia.edu/14435453/Managing_social_norms_for_persuasive_impact.

• This study sought to investigate the 'focus' theory of normative conduct, which asserts that norms are only likely to influence behaviour directly when they are given attention and are therefore noticeable in consciousness. The theory suggests that there are two types of norms, descriptive and injunctive. Descriptive norms are what is commonly done, and which motivate by providing evidence of what is likely to be effective action. Injunctive norms are what is commonly approved or disapproved of, and which motivate by promising social rewards or punishments. • The naturalistic experiment was conducted using 2655 visitors to the Petrified Forest National Park in the USA. The park had recently been added to the list of America's 10 most endangered national parks and had reported the problem behaviour of visitors stealing 14 tons of petrified wood each year. • Researchers sought to test whether normative communication to visitors would impact on stealing behaviour. They hypothesised that messages that focused recipients on injunctive norms would be superior to messages that focused the recipient on descriptive norms. • Cialdini and his team targeted three popular sites in the park. They placed three-foot square signs at the start of paths that wound through sections of the park where theft of wood had been a problem. Signs were in place for five two-hour blocks each weekend. During each two-hour time block, they placed 20 pieces of petrified wood in designated locations, which were counted by researchers and replaced for each new time period. • The experiment had four independent variables: injunctive or descriptive normative information, and positive or negative statement wording. The dependent variable was the proportion of pieces of marked wood stolen in each condition. • The injunctive signs were 'Please don't remove the petrified wood from the park' (negative) and 'Please leave petrified wood in the park' (positive). The descriptive signs informed about past behaviour, e.g. 'Many past visitors have removed the petrified wood from the park, changing the state of the Petrified Forest' (negative). • The results showed that messages that used descriptive normative information was most likely to increase theft, whereas messages that used injunctive normative information was most likely to reduce it. • Researchers concluded that their findings support the focus theory, and that the type of normative information presented can dramatically alter how people respond to messaging.

Milgram, S 1963, 'Behavioural study of obedience', Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, vol. 67, pp. 371-378, doi:10.1037/h0040525, www.scirp.org/reference/ReferencesPapers.aspx?ReferenceID=655730

• This study was conceived in the context of post-World War II America, where the behaviour of the Nazi Party and the German military towards millions of innocent people was being questioned. One hypothesis put forward was that 'Germans are different', which suggested that a personality deficit that was only possessed by German people made them more susceptible to obedience to authority. Milgram devised this study to question this hypothesis. He believed that rather than disposition, it was the situation had led to the behaviour. • The aim of the experiment was to investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person. • 40 male participants were recruited using a convenience sampling method. They were told that they would be participating in a study of memory and learning at Yale University and were paid $4.50 for their participation. • Milgram created a phoney 'shock generator' that had 30 switches clearly marked at 15 volt intervals, from 15 to 450 volts. Each group of four switches also had a label, such as 'slight shock' and 'moderate shock', all the way up to 'danger: severe shock' and 'XXX'. It also had buzzers and lights for effect. • There were three distinct roles in the experiment the experimenter, who wore a white coat, introduced the experiment and had a script of prods to use when questioned by participants a confederate the genuine participants. • Participants were led to believe that selection of teacher or learner groups was random, when in fact the participants were always put into the teacher condition for the experiment. Once roles were assigned, the teacher (participant) and learner (confederate) were taken to a room with an electric chair (for authenticity). The teacher (participant) was then taken to the adjacent room with the phoney shock generator and given instructions about the task. • The task involved the teacher reading a series of word pairs to the learner. The learner was asked to memorise the word pairs and was then tested on them. During the testing phase, the teacher read one of the word pair and then four other words, one of which was its original pair. The learner would then indicate their response by pressing one of four switches on the chair. The teacher was instructed that if the learner got an answer wrong, they were to give the learner a shock. For each subsequent wrong answer, they were to increase the shock level. The experiment would end when either the learner left the experiment, or they reached 450 volts. In all conditions, the learner gave a set of predetermined answers. At 300 volts the learner was instructed to bang on the wall. This was repeated up to 315 volts, beyond which they were completely quiet and non-responding. A non-response was to be treated as a wrong answer by the teacher. • During the experiment, many of the participants showed signs of nervousness and tension. After the experiment, participants were thoroughly debriefed and reunited with the learner (confederate) to show them that they were not actually harmed. • The results of the experiment show that of the 40 participants, all obeyed up to 300 volts. Overall, 65% of the participants gave shocks up to 450 volts. The other 35% stopped sometime before 450 volts. • Milgram concluded from this experiment, and subsequent follow-up studies, that situational factors are strong influencers on human behaviour humans often make incorrect dispositional attributions about behaviour.