obedience

Question 1

obedience

Answer 1

form of social influence where an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually an authority figure. they have the power to punish when obedient behavior is not forthcoming.

Question 2

Milgram obedience study (1963) procedure

Answer 2

advertised in paper for men to take part in an experiment concerning memory and learning, to be conducted at the prestigious Yale university. they were paid 4.50.
- structure observation
- highest level of shock 450v
- the participant were told there would be a teacher and learner and the participant would be the teacher
- single blind, where the participant was not told the true details of the research

Question 3

milligram procedure

Answer 3

• the learner attached to electrodes which contains shock from 15v to 450v which is dangerous
• if the learner answers the question wrong then they will get shocked by the participants.
• but the participant doesn’t know that the shocks are fake and the reactions are pre-recorded.
• if the participants did not obey then the experimenter will read out the four prods
  1. please continue
  2. the experiment requires you to continue
  3. it is absolutely essential that you continue
  4. you have no other choice but to continue

Question 4

findings

Answer 4

14 psychology students predicted that no more than 3% would go up to 450 volts.
- no participants stopped below 300 volts.
- 12.5% stopped at 300
- 65% gave the most intense shock of 450 v

Question 5

evaluation

Answer 5

low internal validity: Orne and Holland (1968) argued that the participants acted the way that they did because they did not believe in the set up- they guessed it wasn’t real electric shocks.

Question 6

gina Perry 2013

Answer 6

she listened to the tapes of Milgram’s research and many of them expressed their doubts. this confirms Orne and Holland

Question 7

Hoffling et al (1966)

Answer 7

nurse receives instruction over the phone from a doctor they don’t know of.
- the order was to administer 20mg dose of drug to a patient.
- 20mg was twice the maximum dosage of the bottle

Question 7

Sheridan and King (1972)

Answer 7

conducted similar study but real shocks were given to real puppies. Despite that, 54% male and 100% female delivered they thought was a fatal shock. this suggests that the effects in Milgram study were genuine because people behaved the same way with real shocks. Milgram reported that 70% of his ps said they believed the shocks were genuine

Question 8

findings of hoffling et al

Answer 8

group 21 out of 22 obeyed the doctor but only one questioned the identity of doctor smith as they were not supposed to take instructions by phone.
- 11 knew the drug was more than maximum dosage
- 10 didn’t notice but judged that it was safe because the doctor had ordered them to do so.

Question 9

conclusion of hoffling

Answer 9

found that people are very unwilling to question the authority even when they might have a good reason to. this study showed how the social pressure brought about by the imbalance of power could lead to nurse actually putting patient at risk rather than disobeying

Question 10

rank and jacobsen (1975)

Answer 10

carried out similar study but found different result –> 2 out of 18 nurses obeyed instruction. they gave a more realistic situation that they were familiar with the doctor name and they were able to consult other nurses.

Question 11

variations milgram

Answer 11

proximity, uniform, and location

Question 12

proximity

Answer 12

the physical distance of an authority figure to the person they are giving an order to. when the teacher and learner where in the same room, the percentage of participants who administered the full voltage dropped from 65% to 40%. this suggests that the closer the proximity the lower the level of obedience

Question 13

uniform

Answer 13

the experimenter was wearing a lab coat in the original experiment but in one of the variations the experimenter was wearing normal clothes. the percentage of participants dropped from 65% to 20% demonstrating the dramatic power of uniform

Question 14

location

Answer 14

instead of being at the prestigious Yale university. they conducted the experiment in a run-down building. dropped from 65% to 47.5%. this highlights the impact of location on obedience, with less credible locations resulting in reduction in the level of obedience

Question 15

Bickman (1974) supporting milgram variation

Answer 15

field experiment conducted in New York. three male actors one in ordinary clothes, milkman an security guard. the actors asked the member of the public to do three things.

• 76% obeyed guard
• 47% obeyed milkman
• when instructed by normal 30%.

this suggest that people wearing in uniform are more likely to be obeyed. this is because uniform infers a sense of legitimate authority and power.

Question 16

Miranda et al (1981) cross-cultural replication

Answer 16

found an obedience rate over 90% amongst Spanish students., this suggests that Milgrams conclusions about obedience are not limited to American males but are valid across cultures and to females as well.

Question 17

smith and bond (1998)

Answer 17

Spain is similar to USA so obedience might not be able to be applied to people everywhere