SocialPsychologyClassics

“Do  you  know  any  of  the  most  famous  psychology  studies?

“Harlow’s  Monkey  Experiments

Behaviourism:  Little  Albert

The  Stanford  Prison  Experiment

Milgram’s  obedience  studiesAsch’s  Conformity  Studies

1Social Psychology

Social psychologyHow people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others

The big classics⊙ Questions fundamental

to human nature⊙ Challenging findings⊙ Demanding methods

Which of the lines on the

rightcorrespondsto the one on

the left?

2Conformity

By Asch

“Why do  people changetheir mind under the  

pressures of  the  majority?

Conformity: social influence resulting from exposure to the opinions of a majority

Majority influence: Asch (1955)⊙ Disguised as study of visual judgment⊙ Actually enquires about conformity⊙ 1 Participant + all others confederates⊙ Participant seated towards the end⊙ On 12 critical trials (out of 18) confederates give wrong

answer

Conformity

“ Asch’s original studyhttps://youtu.be/NyDDyT1lDhA?t=1m37s

Results⊙ 36.8% gave wrong answer in experimental condition

vs. <1% wrong in control⊙ 76% of participants conformed at least once⊙ 95% subjects defied majority at least once ⊙ ~11% conformed on nearly all trials

Explanations

⊙ Normative influence = ‘going along’ with others⊙ Informational influence = being convinced by others

Conformity

Reflections⊙ Troubling experience to be a participant in this study (non-

verbal anxiety, fidgeting, squinting)

⊙ Is conformity a reflection of weakness and cowardice?People are actively trying to make sense of situation vs. Passively conforming

⊙ Content of study: very fast, response not reflecting personal values

„individual had nothing to gain [Asch]”

⊙ Giving in to majority pressure =/ = mindlessness⊙ Conformity? Or dissent?⊙ What about the evidence of resistance?

Conformity

“Data  from  participantinterviews:

„I  didn’t  think  the  majority  as  right  but  I  didn’t  want  to  appear  foolish  or  be  the  odd  one  out”  à normative  influence

„the  first  person  must  have  a  visual  impairment,  so  others  probably  didn’t  make  him  look  like  a  fool”  à being  polite?  Situational  context

„I  probably  had  some  sort  of  illusion,  it’s  not  possible  that  all  these  people  were  wrong”  à conversion

„I  wouldn’t  have  given  these  answers  if  I  didn’t  think  everyoenelse  was  wrong”  à non-­conformity

What reduces conformity?⊙ Numerical size of majority (n=1 –> 3% wrong, n=2 à 14%

wrong, n=3 à 32%)

⊙ Unanimity of majority (1 confederate giving right answer àconformity drops dramatically!; 1 confederate giving wrong but different answer à conformity also drops towards 9%) àreassurance

⊙ Members of majority must be seen as independent

⊙ Collectivistic culture: subordinate individual goals to group goals

Conformity

“ „Yet anyone inclined to  draw toopessimistic evidence from  this report  would do  to  remind her/himself that the  capacities for  independence are not  to  be  underestimated.  

Asch,  1955

2Obedience

By Milgram

“Why and  when do  people obey authority?

Background

⊙ Nazi crimes and WW2

⊙ Hannah Arendt & Adolf Eichmann’s trial

⊙ „banality of evil”

Conformity

““I  was  dissatisfied  that  the  test  of  conformity  was  judgments  about  lines.  I  wondered  whether  groups  could  pressure  a  person  into  performing  an  act  whose  human  import  was  more  readily  apparent,  perhaps  behaving  aggressively  toward  another  person,  say  by  administering  increasingly  severe  shocks  to  him”

Miglram (1974)

Design⊙ Disguised as a a memory experiment (effects of

punishment on learning)⊙ Experimenter (gray coat) + subject adminstering shocks

(teacher) + confederate receiving shocks (learner)⊙ Learner sometimes had a ‘heart condition’⊙ Fake role draw (teacher vs learner)⊙ Adminsiter shock for wrong anser (30 switches, max

450V)

Obedience

“„Ordinary people,  simply doing their jobs,  and  without any particular hostility on  their part,  canbecome agents in  a  terrible  destructive process.  Moreover,  even when the  destructive effects of  their work become patently clear,  and  they areasked to  carry out  actions incompatible with  fundamental standards of  morality,  relatively fewpeople have the  resources needed to  resistauthority”

The  Perils of  Obedience,  Milgram (1974)

“ The  original experiment:  documentary

https://youtu.be/ek4pWJ0_XNo?t=8m52s

https://youtu.be/ek4pWJ0_XNo?t=25m15s

https://ytu.be/ek4pWJ0_XNo?t=25m15s

Experimenter’s prods1. Please continue, please go on2. The experiment requires that you continue3. It is absolutely essential that you continue4. You have no other choice, you must go on+ Although the shocks may be painful, there is no permanent tissue damage

Learner’s role75V: expression of pain150V: „Get me out of here. I refuse to go on, let me out!”195V - 330V: intensifies screams, heart condition330V: stops making any sound

Obedience

Results for ‘baseline’ condition• 65% continued towards 450V deadly shock• 15% who refused did so at 150V

• Many stopped to question the experimenter at some point but continued nevertheless when told they won’t be held repsonsible

• At some point, every participant paused and questioned the experiment

• Throughout the experiment, subjects displayed varying degrees of tension and stress

Obedience

Variations • Experimenter vs. Ordinary man: 20% obey until end• Two experiemnters arguing: 0% fully obedient, 90%

stop at 150V• 3 teachers (2 actors): one drops at 150V, other at 210V

à 10% until end; most break at 210V• Participant assists actor experiemnter: 92.5% ready to

administer full• Dodgy lab à 50% full obedience

Obedience

“„Given any social situation,  the  strengthand  direction of  potential group influence  ispre-­determiend by  exisitng conditions.  We  need to  examine the  variety of  field  structures that typify social situations and  the  manner in  which each controls  the  pattern of  potential influence”

Milgram,  1965

Reflections

⊙ Massive variations: 0 – 90%⊙ Obedience contingent on legitimate authority⊙ Participants are in fact respodnent to others

Milgram dilemma = participant assailed on all sides by different voices wanting different things

Obedience

Explanations• Impact of physical environment: „incipient group

formation”• „Agentic shift” – acting as agent for someone else

Obstacles in progress• Ethical: impossible to replicate• Conceptual

Overcoming ethical problems:• Alternative paradigms: crushing bugs, persisitng at a

tedious task• Using historical case studies• VR of Milgram paradigm (close correspodnence)• Stop at 150V and use predictor models

Obedience

Study often summed up as „people blindly obey orders”

BUT: remember language & prods used!⊙ Requests (‘Please continue’)⊙ Justifications based on scientific value (‘The

experiment requires that you continue’)⊙ Direct order (‘You have no other choice, you must go

on’)

So… people aren’t simply following orders. They seek out justifications for acting from people they trust and identify with.

Summary

“ “Milgram’s  obedience  experiment  is  the  single  greatest  contribution  to  human  knowledge  ever  made  by  the  field  of  social  psychology,  perhaps  psychology  in  general”  

Sherif,  1960

Summary

He  contrasts people’s belief in  the  “armor of  virtue”  versus  the  “power of  the  situation.”  However,  this does not  meanthat people underestimate the  power of  the  situation in  favor of  the  power of  their own dispositions.  An alternativeexplanation is that people do  not  appreciate theirdisposition to  obey because they overestimate how much  personal importance they place  on  behaving morally.  Thatis,  features of  the  situation in  this experiment affectbehavior because of  people’s corresponding dispositions.  This does not  mean that situations are more importantthan personality,  only that the  two interact in  ways thatpeople do  not  always understand.  Milgram himself actuallythought that obedience reflected a  complex mix  of  personality and  situational factors,  something that is oftenoverlooked.

3TyrranyBy Zimbardo

“To  what extent can our social

context make us evil?

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Design⊙ Prison built in basement of lab⊙ 24 male students (no history of

psychopathology, ‘normal’ personalities)⊙ Random assignment to guard or prisoner⊙ Experimetnal setting ‘as close as possible to a

functional simulation of imprisonment’reinforce low status of prisoners and high status of guards

⊙ No prior training and explanation of roles

“„We  can create boredom.  We  cancreate a  sense of  frustration.  We  cancreate fear in  them,  to  some degree.  We  can create a  notion of  the  arbitrariness that governs their lives,  which are totally controlled by  us,  by  the  system,  by  you,  me  …  In  general,  what all this should create in  them is a  sense of  powerlessness.  We  havetotal power in  the  situation.  They havenone.”

https://youtu.be/7LviGTHud5w

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Results⊙ Set for 2 weeks, finished in 6 days⊙ 5 prisoners had to be released early

⊙ Phases: settling in à rebellion à tyrrany⊙ Singling out prisoners, stripping prisoners

naked, solitary confinement, divide and rule strategy of guards

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Explanations

⊙ Dispositional hypothesis = individualdispositons, character traits account for behaviur

⊙ Situationist hypothesis = people’sbehaviour is primarily determined by their social context

⊙ Interactionist account: dispositionaland situational variables interact!

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Real-life context: Abu Ghraib

⊙ Few ‘rogue’ soldiers?⊙ Iraqi detainees tortured in horrifying

ways by guards⊙ Zimbardo as expert witness on trial

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Stanford Prison

Experiment

Criticisms⊙ Extreme demand characteristics⊙ Natural consequence of being in the uniform of

the guard?⊙ Zimbardo was prison superintendent himself⊙ Lack of generalizability⊙ Pseudo-scientific experiment⊙ ‘normal college students’? – personality

differences

Study created very particular structures!

“„My  opinion,  based on  my  observations,  was  that Zimbardo began with  a  preformedblockbuster conclusion and  designed anexperiment to  “prove”  that conclusion.  Nevertheless,  ideas such as  bags being placedover the  heads of  prisoners (…)  were allexperiences of  mine (…)    which I  dutifully sharedwith  the  Stanford  Prison Experiment.  To  allegethat all these carefully tested,  psychologicallysolid  "guards"  dreamed this up on  their own isabsurd.  How  can Zimbardo (…)  express  horror  at the  behavior of  the  "guards"  when they weremerely doing what Zimbardo and  others,  myselfincluded,  encouraged them to  do  at the  outset orfrankly established as  ground rules?”

Carlo  Prescott,  2005

Stanford Prison

Experiment

BBC Prison Study⊙ 15 men⊙ No role for experimenters⊙ Based on social identity theory

Results⊙ No evidence of guards blindly succumbing to

role ⊙ Prisoners created shared identity and revolted⊙ Collaborative commune created; however broke

down and tyrrany began to creep in⊙ Experiment brought to end on Day 8

So? Dynamic interactionism?

The bottomline

⊙ Situationist account of SPE is toosimple

⊙ People do not automatically assumeroles that are given to them

⊙ Behavior of group members dependsupon the norms and values associatedwith their specific social identity

The bottomline

Social norms = Expectations about whatbehavior, thoughts, or feelings thatappropriate within a given group within a given context

Conformity = yielding to, or "going alongwith," a perceived social norm.

The bottomline

1) Is conformity a good thing, or a bad thing? Why?2) List 20 social norms, and if they are specific to a certain group or context, describe it + list social normsdifferent between the UK and your home/school country3) For norms listed in number 2, how many of them do you think are positive, negative, or neutral? Positive _______ Negative _______ Neutral _________4) Can you think of five social norms that you are gladthey exist? Describe them.5) What would social life be like if there were no socialnorms?6) In your opinion, why do people conform?7) What determines whether a particular norm is good orbad?

4Conflict

By Sherif

Conflict

Intergroup conflict occurs when two groups are in competition for limited resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PRuxMprSDQ

Conflict

Design⊙ Field experiment, disguised as boy’s

camp⊙ Two groups of 12y olds⊙ Phases1. Get-to-know: Separated; building group

cohesion (e.g. Swimming, hiking)2. Competition (4-6days): competitive

games (baseball, thug of war), prizesonly for winners; gaining at other’sexpense

3. Integration: Reestablishing commongoals; ‘superodinate goals’, non-competitve activities

Conflict

Results⊙ Leaders in 1st phase different to those in

2nd⊙ Initially prejudice only verbally

expressed⊙ Eagles burn Rattlers Flag⊙ Rattlers steal private objects, destroy

bedrooms⊙ During last phase groups gradually came

together again

Conflict

Explanations:

Realistic Conflict Theory = intergrouphostility can arise as a result of conflictinggoals and competition over limitedresources

Groups may be in competition for a real orperceived scarcity of resources such as money, political power, military protection, or social status

Conflict

Explanations:

According to RCT, positive relations canonly be restored if superordinate goals arein place

5Cognitive

DissonanceBy Festinger

Cognitivedissonance

Rating paintings

1       2 3

4   5

Cognitivedissonance

Cognitive dissonance = a situation involvingconflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors

= theory of human motivation that asserts that it ispsychologically uncomfortable to holdcontradictory cognitions. The theory is thatdissonance, being unpleasant, motivates a person to change his cognition, attitude, or behavior.

§ produces a feeling of discomfort§ leads to an alteration in the attitudes, beliefs or

behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restorebalance etc.

Cognitivedissonance

Original experiment

https://youtu.be/korGK0yGIDo?t=55s

Cognitivedissonance

Original experiment

⊙ Perform a boring task⊙ After study, paid $1 OR $20 for

lying to next participant that the study was fun

⊙ Q: How did you enjoy the task?

Cognitivedissonance

Original experiment

Cognitivedissonance

Dealing with cognitive dissonance

⊙ Change the behavior or the cognition ("I'll eat no moreof this doughnut.")

⊙ Justify the behavior or the cognition, by changing the conflicting cognition ("I'm allowed to cheat my diet everyonce in a while.")

⊙ Justify the behavior or the cognition by adding newcognitions ("I'll spend thirty extra minutes at the gymnasium to work off the doughnut.")

⊙ Ignore or deny information that conflicts with existingbeliefs ("This doughnut is not a high-sugar food.")

Cognitivedissonance

Dealing with cognitive dissonance –smoking

⊙ „I smoke BUT I also go to the gym every day for 30min”

⊙ „It’s worse to be overweight thanto smoke”

⊙ „Smoking is not so unhealthybecause it keeps my weightdown”

Cognitivedissonance

6Fundamental

Attribution ErrorBy Ross

FAE

Remember a situation when you werelate to class – why where you late?

FAE

Remember a situation when someoneelse was late to class – why where theylate?

FAE

Dispositional attribution = belief that anevent or behavior is caused by someinternal factor, like traits, skills, orpersonality

Situational attribution = belief that anevent or behavior is caused by someexternal factor pertaining to the situation

FAE = attributing own behavior to the situation and the behavior of other peopleto their personality

FAE

FAE

FAE

Why is it important for our daily lives?

⊙ Blaming others too easily for factors outside of their control

⊙ Self-serving bias towardsourselves

FAE

Where do you think the FAE iscommitted when it comes to socialissues?

⊙ Blaming the poor and uneducated for being lazy but your own family struggling as having a hardtime

⊙ Other examples?

FAE

Original study

⊙ Students read essays that are pro-or anti- Fidel Castro

⊙ Then asked to rate the extent of pro-Castro attitudes

⊙ Even when told that the positionof the writer was determined by a coin toss, they still ignore thisclearly situational disposition!

“CRITICISM:

A  situation can only elicit a  response if a  person  has a  disposition to  respond in  the  relevant way.  Hence,  whatthese types of  experiments show,  is not  that peopleoverestimate dispositional causes and  underestimatesituational ones,  but  that people overestimate somecauses (e.g.  how they would like to  behave)  and  underestimate others (e.g.  their willingness to  do  thingsthat make them uncomfortable to  avoid awkwardconfrontations)(Sabini et  al.,  2001).  That is,  people mightunderestimate how conflicted their own dispositions are,  and  experimental situations can bring these awkwardconflicts to  light and  expose  how much  people struggle to  find compromises between them (Funder,  2001).

FAE

Dealing with FAE

https://sites.google.com/a/sunsetparkhighschool.org/psychology/sociocultural/activity-fundamental-attribution-error

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#1 A married woman goes to a single man's apartment two nights of everyweek for three hours. What's yourexplanation

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#1 A married woman goes to a single man's apartment two nights of everyweek for three hours. What's yourexplanation

FAE

Dealing with FAE

If your answer was similar to... Give yourself ...

The two are having an affair. 0 points

She is his cleaner. 1 point

She is his mother and is caring for him while he is sick. 2 points

He is a music teacher and she goes there for piano lessons. 3 points

(Any answer that is more creative.) 4 points

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#2 A person smelling of stale liquoris buying aspirin at 6 a.m. What'syour explanation?

FAE

Dealing with FAEIf your answer was similar to... Give yourself ...

The person was out partying all night and has a headache as a result. 0 points

The person is buying aspirin for their partner who has the flu. 1 point

The person works in Johnny's Blues Bar and has just finished the late shift. 2 points

The person spilled a bottle of rum when trying to reach the breakfast cereal bumped their head on the

open cupboard and are looking for a remedy.3 points

(Any answer that is more creative.) 4 points

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#3 When you get home you findyour brother's car is dented in on the right side. What's your explanation?

FAE

Dealing with FAE

If your answer was similar to... Give yourself ...

Your brother just had an accident. 0 points

The car has always been like that for several days and you never

noticed. 1 point

Old VW's always look like that. It's the same on the other side. 2 points

The car is full of rust. This was bound to happen. 3 points

(Any answer that is more creative.) 4 points

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#4 Last week a mechanic fixed the vibration in your car's front end. Now you feel the vibration again. What's your explanation?

FAE

Dealing with FAE

If your answer was similar to... Give yourself ...

The mechanic did a poor job. 0 points

You recently drove through wet, muddy roads and mud is now

caked onto the suspension system.1 point

You are driving over those bumpy warning strips in the road. 2 points

Your teenager damaged the tires while learning to parallel park. 3 points

(Any answer that is more creative.) 4 points

FAE

Dealing with FAE

#5 You see a man chasing a womandown an alley. What is yourexplanation?

FAE

Dealing with FAE

If your answer was similar to... Give yourself ...

You are witnessing a case of domestic violence. 0 points

She is a shoplifter; he is a plain-clothes officer. 1 point

They are trying to catch their dog. 2 points

The two are practicing for a marathon. 3 points

(Any answer that is more creative.) 4 points

FAE

Discussion time

⊙How does this game challenge our commonassumptions?

⊙What is the basis of some of the worst assumptionsyou made in this game?

FAE

Discussion time

⊙Describe some strategies for overcoming the shortfalls of holding onto assumptions.

⊙What are the factors that make us vulnerable to making wrong conclusions?

FAE

Discussion time

⊙What are the implications of what you have learnedfor scientists, law enforcement officers, news reporters, managers, and school teachers who relyupon observable data for making conclusions?

⊙ Is it always wrong to go with the most obviousassumption? What about probability of thingshappening?

7Delayed

Gratification: Marshmallow

Test

Marshmallow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX_oy9614HQ

Choice between one small reward providedimmediately or two small rewards (i.e., a largerlater reward) if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned

Kids ranged in age from 3 years, 6 months to 5 years, 8 months

Marshmallow

Conditions:

⊙ Both the immediate (less preferred) and the delayed (more preferred) reward were left facing the subject and available for attention⊙ Neither reward was available for the subject’sattention, both rewards having been removed from his/her sight⊙ The delayed reward only was left facing the subject and available for attention while he or shewaited⊙ The immediate reward only was left facing the subject and available for attention while he or shewaited

Marshmallow

Results

⊙ children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index (BMI), and other life measures

Marshmallow

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQvBrEEYS20

Adults and marshmallows J

„As adults we face a version of the marshmallowtest nearly every waking minute of every day. We’re not tempted by sugary treats, but by ourbrowser tabs, phones, tablets, and (soon) ourwatches—all the devices that connect us to the global delivery system for those blips of information that do to us what marshmallows do to preschoolers.”

Hot seat

Choose one of the psychologistswhose experiments we discussedin class and embody them in a ‘hot seat’

Let’s review

some concepts

Conformity -Asch

Obedience -Milgram

Tyrrany –Stanford PrisonExperiment

Normative vs. Informationalinfluence

SocialPsychology

Dispositional vs. Situationistexplanations