Experimental Psychology PSY 433

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Experimental PsychologyPSY 433

• Chapter 13
• Social Psychology

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Midterm Results
Score Grade N
29-34 A 10
26-28 B 8
23-25 C 0
20-22 D 4
0-19 F 2
Top score 33 (2 people)
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Social Psychology

• Social Cognition -- how we perceive others
• Stereotypes, prejudice, attraction, liking.
• Attitudes and beliefs, identity, sense of self,
  and how these are changed.
• Social Influence -- how others influence our
  behavior
• Conformity, compliance, and obedience.
• Aggression, violence, altruism, cooperation.

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Conformity

• Sherifs (1935) work on social norms using the
  autokinetic effect.
• Autokinetic effect a stationary spot of light
  in a dark room appears to move.
• What others say affects an observers perceptions
  it appears to move in an arc if other people saw
  it move in an arc.

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Conformity

• Aschs (1951, 1956, 1958) work on conformity
  using line judgments.
• Subjects were told the study was on visual
  discrimination, but it was actually on
  conformity.
• The task identify which of 3 lines matches a
  standard.
• Asch expected that people would follow the
  evidence of their own eyes but they didnt.

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Aschs Paradigm

• Six confederates 1 subject
• Each responded out loud
• Experimental manipulation
• Confederates respond correctly on 6 trials
  incorrectly on 12
• Most subjects conformed on 1 or more of the 12
  incorrect trials
• Control Confederates always responded correctly
  (only 5 of subjects erred).

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Compliance and Obedience

• Milgram (1963, 1964, 1965) obedience task
• Paid subjects volunteered for a study of the
  effects of punishment on learning/memory.
• Involved 3 people
• Authority the experimenter
• Victim the learner (a confederate)
• Subject -- the teacher

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Milgrams Shock Panel
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Learner Responses
Grunts Moans
Let me out!
I cant stand the pain!
I refuse to answer!
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Conditions Affecting Obedience

• The setting did Yale foster obedience because
  it was well-known, Ivy League?
• Replication in a sleazy part of Bridgeport
• 48 gave max shock, compared to 65
• Presence/absence of peers also showing defiance
  or conformity
• Conforming peers encouraged greater shock.
• Proximity to the victim 74 when hear victim,
  40 when see victim, 30 when touch victim

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Interpreting Conformity Results

• Perhaps subjects trusted that no harm would
  really come to the subjects treated the context
  as make believe.
• Perhaps results underestimate conformity, since
  the experimenter truly has no authority over the
  subject.
• Obedience is not necessarily bad society would
  not function if people ignored laws and persons
  in authority.