Psychology

Describe the differences in the experimental procedure and the obtained results for the following manipulations: (1) remote feedback, 2) voice feedback,(3) proximity, (4) touch proximity

(1) remote feedback- the teacher cannot see or hear the learner, but can hear a pounding on the walls, the mean maximum shock level was 27 and the percent of obedient subjects was 65% (2) voice feedback- the teacher still could not see the learner, but could now hear him, the mean max. shock level was 24.53 and the percent of obedient subjects was 62.5% (3) proximity- the teacher could see and hear the learner and they were only a few feet apart. The mean max. shock level was 20.8 and the percentage of obedient subjects was 40% and (4) touch proximity- like the proximity test, but the shock was only delivered when the learner's hand was on a plate, the teacher would have to physically put the learner's hand on the plate before delivering shocks. The mean max. shock level was 17.88 and the percentage of obedient subjects was 30%.

What are the three most common assertions used to dismiss Milgram's results? Then summarize his responses to each of them.

. 1) the people in the experiment are not typical, so they cannot represent the typical population. Milgram responds to this first by saying that the first run of the experiment was done using a special group: the Yale Undergraduates and the results were the same as when it was done with the New Haven volunteers. Next he states volunteers are generally less authoritative, so any bias in the results would be in the other direction. 2)they didn't really think they were shocking the victim. Milgram states that only a few of the subjects revealed that they suspected they were not actually administering shocks. Also the morally conflict seen in most subjects indicates their trust in the shock. 3) It is not possible to generalize things that took place in a lab to the real world. Milgram responds to this saying that any social encounter is a unique circumstance, just like the lab is. All social events have the power to do the same.

In your own words, in no more than three paragraphs, describe the procedure used by Milgram to study obedience

. First, the experimenter had to come up with a good sample of 500 people. To keep the details of the experiment a secret, the experiment did not use students. After a group of people was set up with enough variety, they hired an "experimenter" and a "victim". The teacher and the learner were brought in and read a little thing on memory theories to justify the experiment the teacher thought he was participating in. The teacher then saw the learner strapped into a seat and hooked up to the machine. The teacher was then asked to read a series of word in pairs; they would then give the learned the first word of a pair and a series of other words and the learner had to pick out the original second word. When the learner answered incorrectly, they were shocked; the shock was increased with every incorrect answer. As the voltage increased, the learner makes increased pleas to be let free. If the teacher protested to the experimenter, the experimenter would "prod" and encourage him to continue. After 30 levels plus two rounds, the experiment ended and the participants were debriefed and asked to fill out a questionnaire.

Explain the four differences between conformity and obedience according to Milgram.

1) Hierarchy: obedience results from a hierarchy, when the subject feels that the person above them has the right to give orders. 2) Imitation: Conformity is mimicking the actions of others, authority figures do not have to be doing what they ask you to do in order for authority to occur. 3) Explicitness: when you obey, you are following direct orders clearly given to you. Conformity involves a lot more unspoken commands. 4) Voluntarism: subjects deny conformity and embrace obedience as justification of their actions.

what are the 3 components of one's attitude?

1) belief component- what a person thinks 2) emotional component- what a person feels 3) action component- how a person behaves

What two assumptions does Milgram think are responsible for the audience's predictions?

1) people do not hurt other innocent people 2) we are in control of ourselves and cannot be verbally forced to do things.

What are the five sources of strain Milgram notes?

1)the victim's cries of pain cause the subject's obedience to be disrupted. 2) The thought of harming an innocent person, this is against the morals we have been raised to believe. 3) Fear of punishment either from the learner of legally. 4) demands from the learner that contradict what the experimenter is asking of you. 5) self - image is threatened by the thought of harming somebody else.

What does Milgram mean by "strain?"

A feeling of tension while being obedient, Milgram states that this is due to only being partially agentic; when there is some sort of disruption in the process.

What does Milgram mean by "agentic state?"

A person no longer sees himself as acting on his own, but they shift to acting on behalf us somenbody of a higher status.

Define what Milgram means by antecedent condition, consequences, and binding factors.

Antecedent condition refers to the idea that there are certain every day conditions that will push us to move from an autonomous state to an agentic state. Consequences are what changes occur once the shift is made and binding factors are the factors that keep you in an agentic state.

What psychological processes/behaviors do participants engage in when experiencing strain, but still obeying, that help to keep them in the agentic state/following commands?

Anything that reduces the psychological closeness of the subject and victim; any way they can distance themselves will reduce strain. This can be done through avoidance, when the subject tries to avoid the factors causing strain. It can also be done through denial of the factors. Some subjects touched the button causing the shock as little as possible. Other subjects tried to give the learner hints to the correct answer, hoping they would not have to administer a shock.

What evolutionary explanation does Milgram offer for obedience?

Behavior, such as obedience to authority has been shaped by natural selection. Obedience increased survival of the species, because we have organized roles, putting only the strongest in danger.

How did Milgram study the effects of experimenter proximity on obedience and what were the results in general?

Conducted two trials of the experiment, one where the experimenter was sitting a few feet from the subject and the other where the experimenter left the rule and only communicated by telephone. The number of obedient subjects tripled in the second experiment.

What is the distinction made by Milgram between conformity and obedience?

Conformity is when you follow your peers, whereas obedience is when you obey an authority figure.

List the seven antecedent conditions named by Milgram and pick any three to explain in depth.

Family, institutional setting, rewards, immediate antecedent conditions, entry into the authority system, Coordination of command and overarching ideology. Family refers to the idea that from birth we are expected and taught to be obedient by our parents, when they tell us something, it is said with the expectation that we will listen. Institutional settings teach us how hierarchy works. We are sent to school at a young age and taught who is where on the hierarchy, our teachers, principals, ect. Rewards reinforce our behavior, we are praised for being obedient as children and punished for a lack of obedience.

a) The stories of the individual participants often reveal that they continued to shock the learner and obey the experimenter despite stating a desire not to do so, and even protesting. What does this suggest is controlling the participants' behavior?

Fear of disappointing the authority figure. They don't want to continue, but in that moment, they feel like they have to.

Did the results change when the study was replicated in Bridgeport?

It was lower, but not significantly lower

What is the important point Milgram makes regarding the validity of subjects' verbal reports of the causes of their behavior?

Listen to everything the subject says, but do not take everything he says as fact, because he himself is not aware of the driving forces behind his actions.

What is Milgram's opinion about whether or not moral values control the participants' behavior in the studies?

Milgram believes that the participants are giving up their feelings and personal moral values to the authority figure. They are justifying it by saying they were just preforming a task, they detach themselves.

Does Milgram agree with the hypothesis that aggression explains his results? Why yes or no?

No, Milgram refers to the earlier experiment in which the subjects were allowed to choose a level at which to shock the victims. He states that the subjects generally picked the lower levels and that even in the other experiments it was uncommon for the subjects to draw pleasure from shocking the victim.

Does Milgram believe Americans are somehow different from the Nazi Germans in terms of their ability to disobey commands?

No, he believes that we behave the same way to authority, we are just not asked to obey at such dramatic levels. He states that even though we elect our leaders, they still have authority and we still obey.

How did Milgram "operationally define" obedience?

Obedience in was measured by the number of volts a teacher administered before refusing to participate, ranging from 0 to 30.

How does the My Lai massacre illustrate his answer to the last question?

Perfectly decent, American men were told to shoot civilians during the Vietnam War and they did. They did not accept their actions morally, but they still obeyed. This proves that obedience to authority does not only affect evil men.

define the dimensions of group membership

Structure- asks the following questions who? how many? how are they connected? Cohesion- asks how strong and intense the group's connection is

What were the expected results described by audience members regarding their own willingness to obey and the willingness of other people to obey?

The audience members believed that they would defy authority and have empathy for the learner, the average level they would go to was about 9. They believed about the same when asked to predict what others would do.

What did experiments 12, 13, and 13a reveal about the importance of authority with respect to obedience rates?

The authority must give the commands, if you do not establish authority, you will not receive obedience. When the "common men" were giving the orders, the subjects felt less obligated to listen to them. When the common man experimenter took over the shocking, the subjects felt they could protect the learner from the shocks.

In experiment 18, a confederate peer delivers the shocks. What are the effects of this manipulation and why?

The disobedience decreased, they were able to distance themselves from the moral problem and blame somebody else.

What is meant by "counteranthropomorphism"

The idea that an idea or inanimate object has a power over the human race. Such as the experiment being the authority, not the experimenter.

What happened to obedience levels when women were used as teachers?

The obedience levels did not significantly change, but the reactions women gave during the experiment were different.

What does Milgram mean when he refers to the social contract participants have in the experiment? How did he study its effect? What in general were the results?

The participants feel that they have a contract with the experimenter and that contract covers all conditions that may be added later. To test this, an experiment was done in which the learner singed a consent form that stated he had the right to stop at any time, the subject witnessed this. Less of the subjects were disobedient after this.

Why did Milgram conclude that "evilness" on behalf of individuals was not a valid explanation for the obedience observed in his experiments and Nazi Germany?

The participants were represented by regular people, they also came from a large variety of social classes and personalities

List the three binding factors and explain any two of them.

The three binding factors are Sequential nature of the action, situational obligation and anxiety. Sequential nature of the action is the idea that disobedience causes a sense of cognitive dissonance, because rebelling forces the subject to admit that everything they had done to that point was wrong. Anxiety is the idea that when you think about disobedience, you start to feel anxious, naturally, you shy from that feeling.

What did the 11th experiment reveal about the hypothesis that the results of earlier experiments were due to men simply being innately aggressive?

This experiment showed that when the subjects were given the choice, they chose to shock at the lower levels, meaning that they hypothesis is not plausible.

Explain what Milgram means on page 11 where he states "there is a fragmentation of the total human act" and how that statement helps to explain the high level of obedience he observed.

This is similar to the idea of diffusion of responsibility. When mass evil occurs, we are able to push the blame up hill.

Listen to everything the subject says, but do not take everything he says as fact, because he himself is not aware of the driving forces behind his actions.

This is when the learner made a subtle remark about having a minor heart problem at the beginning of the experiment. Then, throughout the experiment, the learner would start complaining about having heart pain. I expected this to lead to greater rates of disobedience, because the subject would have a more obvious reason to refuse to continue.

List the five characteristics of an agentic state and then pick any two to explain in depth.

Tuning, redefining the meaning of the situation, loss of responsibility, self-image and commands and the agentic state. Loss of responsibility refers to the idea that a man feels responsible to be obedient but not responsible for what he is doing while being obedient. The self-image consequence is when we no longer associate our behaviors while being obedient to our self-image, because we no longer feel it reflects us, but our authority figure.

What evidence does Milgram present to support the fact that subjects thought that they really were delivering shocks to the learners?

Voice recordings with the teacher asking if the learner was ok

What did experiment 16 reveal?

When a person of apparent authority is given the role an ordinary person would take on, they lose authority.

Experiment 17 reveals what about the influence of peers on disobedience?

When others disobey, it becomes more acceptable for you to disobey. However, you will deny that your rebellion was a result of theirs.

Experiment 6 revealed what about the effects of the experimenter's and victims' (learners') physical appearances?

When the experimenter was softer spoken and the learner was more outgoing the subjects disobedience on average stayed the same

What did experiment 14 reveal?

When the victim was of authority, the subject still felt the need to obey him, even when the "common man" asked him to disregard what the subject was saying.

What did experiment 15 reveal?

When two authority figures are present, we are more likely to do what we think is right, as long as it obeys one of them.

Low-ball compliance technique

a strategy in which commitment is gained first on reasonable or desirable terms which are then made less reasonable or desirable

groupthink

an emphasis on group anonymity at the expense of critical thinking and independent thought

stereotype threat

anxiety caused by the fear of being judged in terms of a stereotype

self handicapping

arranging to preform under conditions that impair performance so that there will be a tangible excuse for failure

jigsaw classrooms

assignments require class to work together

Antisocial behavior

behavior intended to harm others

pro-social behavior

behavior intended to help others

compliance

bending to the requests of a person who has little or no authority or other form of social power

scapegoating

blaming a person or a group for the actions of others or for conditions in their making (displaced aggression)

superordinate goals

common goals that override all others (method of combating prejudice)

need to belong theory

humans have a biologically based need for interpersonal communications

social status

level of social power and importance

group prejudice

occurs when a person conforms to group norms

personal prejudice

occurs when members of another social group are perceived as a threat to one's own interests

social stereotype

oversimplified images of the traits of individuals who belong to a particular social group

Bystander effect

people are less likely to intervene when in a large group (think Kitty Genovese)

attributions

process of assigning causes of behavior

diffusion of responsibility

reduction of feeling of responsibility in the presence of others

Inter-group conflicts

rooted in prejudices and shared beliefs about in-groups vs. out-groups

equal-status contact

social interaction that occurs on an equal footing (method of combating prejudice)

Asch study

subject was in a group of confederates. the group was shown 3 lines and asked to compare them to another line and state the one that was the same length as the 4th line. The confederates at first all gave the correct answer as did the subject. then they all gave he wrong answer and the subject usually followed their lead. this showed how much of an impact conformity has on us and how it works.

Zimbardo study

subjects were assigned as prisoners or guards. their behavior was observed. the study was cut from 2 weeks to 6 days, because of such strong reactions to the roles. this demonstrates deindividuation

Foot in the door compliance effect

tendency for a person who has first complied with a small request to be more likely to fulfill a larger request

Door- in - the face compliance technique

tendency for a person who has refused a major request to subsequently be more likely to comply with a minor request

mere presence conformity

tendency for people to change their behavior just because of the presence of other people

deindividuation

tendency for people to engage in atypical behavior when stripped of their usual identities

self stereotyping

tendency to apply stereotypes to one's self

social facilitation

tendency to preform better in front of others

Social loafing

tendency to work less hard when in a group

pluralistic ignorance

the error of assuming that no one in the group perceives things as we do

social cognition

the process of thinking about ourselves and others in a social context

social psychology

the scientific study of how individuals behave, think and feel in social situations

conformity

the tendency for people to alter their behavior as a result of group pressure

actor-observer bias

the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes while attributing our own to external causes

fundamental attribution error

the tendency to overestimate the impact of dis positional influences on other people's behavior

social comparison theory

we evaluate our abilities and beliefs by comparing them with those of others

Role conflict

when 2 or more roles make conflicting demands on a person

norm

widely accepted (but often unspoken) standards for appropriate behavior