Ch. 1-5 Flashcards
(92 cards)
Social Influence
ways we are affeced by real or imagined pressures from others
- imagined presence → ie. surveillance cameras (imagined presence of police)
- parents’ imagined presence of telling you what to do
Conformity
changing perceptions, opinions and behavior to be consistent with group norms
- group norms form quickly
Classical Studies of Conformity
- Sherif (1936)
- Asch (1951)
Sherif (1936)
observation & formation of group norm
- Cover Story: visual perception experiment
- when you mask what the true intentions of the study are
- Procedure: in a dark room, participants had to estimate movement of a small dot of light
- participants were tested alone, then in groups of 3
- Ambiguous Task: Autokinetic Effect (Optical Illusion)
- light never moved but appeared to move
- Hypothesis: ppl would be impacted by others ONLY by ambiguous task
- (But Asch’s experiment showed that it also happens on nonambiguous tasks)
- Results: once in a group, participants compromised their original estimates to form a group norm
**Asch (1951) **
impacted by Sherif’s studies
- Cover story: ability to make visual discriminations
- Procedure: reported which comparison line was similar to a standard line (same length)
- Nonambiguous Task!
1 subject, 6 confederates
At first, confed. responded correctly
Then ALL confed. picked the WRONG line
- 67% conformed → even on a nonambiguous task
- 25% never conformed
Why do people conform?
Sherif
- Informational Influence: conformity on difficult or ambiguous tasks if others’ judgments are thought to be correct
Asch
- Normative Influence: conforming for fear of looking deviant
- You think group’s wrong but you don’t want to be “rocking the boat”
Private Conformity (true acceptance conversion): accept a group norm or that others are correct
- Ex) Sherif’s study; internalize
Public Conformity: an overt change in behavior, usu. In response to normative influence
- Ex) Asch’s study; externalized; TEMPORARY! You’re NOT conformed
Candid camera clips
Elevator (confed. moving around)
- Normative influence, public conformity
Picketing blank signs
- Normative influence (ppl were skeptical)
Shoe repair – told only to step on black tiles
- Ppl came in individually (informative influence)
- When ppl came in groups (normative influence)
Obedience
a behavioral change produced by the commands of authority
Authorities as Agents in Influence:
- In advertising…
…fashionable clothiers since 1841
…babies are our business, our only business
…four out of give doctors recommend (using the physician as the authority)
Milgram (1974) Experiment
Study on:** Obedience to Authority**
Cover Story: “Memory” experiment at Yale University, study on the effects of punishment on learning
- “Teacher” reads a list of word pairs and tests learner’s memory
- If “Learner is incorrect then teach administers a shock
- After each wrong answer, intensity of shock increases by 15 volts
- 450 (max volt) – 65% of subjects went all the way to max voltage!!
- Very surprising to Milgram
Experimenter Script:
- Please continue (or go on)
- The experiment requires that you continue
- It is absolutely essential that you continue
- You have no other choice; you must go on
Experimenter used these statements to exert his authority
Factors that influence obedience
1. Emotional Distance of the Victim
- People who were close to a participant did NOT listen to the authority figure
- the greater the distance between them, people would increase voltage more
2. Closeness and Legitimacy of the Authority Figure
- How physically close was the authority figure (sat next to teacher)
- How legit did you think he was? (wearing lab coat, in academic environment)
3. Institutional Authority
-
Expert vs. Authority
- Authority figures get people to obey more
-
Psychiatrist vs. Police
- People listen to police officer more
- This man wanted to jump off a cliff and so people got a psychiatrist to come save the man. It so happened that a police officer saw that the car was parked illegally and yelled at the man and he got in his car and drove away
4. Liberating Effects of a Disobedient Fellow Student
Milgram’s Precautions
- Afterwards, had “teacher” meet with “learner”
- Long debriefing including reassurance that behavior was normal
- After all studies, sent out 5 page report to subjects along w/ survey about how they felt
- 1 year later, had psychiatrist interview 40 ss who seemed most vulnerable
Costs of Milgram’s experiment
The teacher sweated, trembled, stuttered, groaned, broke into uncontrollable nervous laughter
Temporary Stress?
- Nearly 84% were glad to have volunteered
- Only 1% regretted it
- 1 year later, psychiatrist found that stress had subsided in 40 vulnerable subjects
Benefits of Milgram’s experiment
Milgram pointed to lessons learned from diverse sample of 1,000 participants
- Milgram isolated factors that determine obedience
- Milgram said that the benefits outweighed the costs
But how can we know the benefits before we conduct the study?
- We don’t know benefits until **AFTER **the study
- University Ethics Board (decides likelihood that we’ll get a benefit)
Types of Scientific Misconduct
- Plagiarism
- Fabrication
- Falsification
** If you’re caught, you lose the opportunity to apply for federal funding for 10 years
Plagiarism
“appropriating another’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit”
- the MOST COMMON form of misconduct
Fabrication
making up data or results and recording or reporting them
Falsification
manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is **NOT **accurately represented in the research record
Fraud vs. Errors
- sometimes, misleading data are published due to honest errors in statistics or record-keeping or differences in opinion about reporting data
- misconduct refers to a significant departure from accepted practices and committing the fraud/misrepresentation intentionally, knowingly or recklessly
Costs of Zimbardo’s Experiment
- Zimbardo’s “guards” had to face their ACTUAL harmful behavior
- Guards felt uncomfortable, embarrassed…
-
Zimbardo also took precautions:
- All participants appeared normal on pre-study surveys
- He employed experts ahead of time, to advise, and to visit the prison throughout the study
- Zimbardo also noted stress was temporary as indicated in post-study surveys
Zimbardo’s study was UNETHICAL
- he forgot to be objective & lost himself in his role
- ***However, NO code of ethics can anticipate all problems :(
Benefits of Zimbardo’s Experiment
- Better understanding of the power of the situation to influence people to do the unexpected
- Influenced prison reform
Removing Deception?
It may be IMPOSSIBLE without eliminating the whole phenomenon of interest
When deception is NOT involved you must do what?
- Alert subjects of possible discomfort
- Alert/remind them that they can stop at any time
What do all experiments do?
- Carefully monitor subject for signs of distress
- Interview subject at the end of study (debrief)
- Treat subject with respect, concern and gratitude
- A careful, caring experimenter can make all the difference in how subjects feel
Observational Methods
Advantage
- May be more “objective” than other methods such as self –report
Satisfaction with an Outcome:
- How one’s own circumstances compares relevant to others (how are you doing compared to others)
- How one’s own actual outcome compares to expected outcome
- How one’s own actual outcome pares to imagine outcomes – which might have been – counter factual thinking