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Title: a level foundations in biology
Description: a level notes on foundation of biology made by a year 13 studdent, predicted A*
Description: a level notes on foundation of biology made by a year 13 studdent, predicted A*
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Social Psychology
Wjhat is meant by social psychology? - 2
Agency Theory - 3,4
Social Impact Theory - 4,5
Milgram variations - 6,7
Factors affecting obedience - 8
Realistic conflict theory - 9,10
Social Identity Theory - 11
Factors affecting prejudice - 12, 13
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
● Social psychology examines the effects of our environment on
our behaviour and how our actions are influenced by
individuals, groups and culture
...
● Our thoughts and feelings are strongly influenced by the social
setting in which we find ourselves and we will behave in ways
we perceive it as being consistent with the social setting
...
● These are carried out in real-life settings and can be universally
applied when studying individuals, groups and culture
...
AGENCY THEORY
-
-
-
Agency theory, a theory by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s argues that there are
two mental states in response to obedience ; autonomy and agency
...
Milgram developed his ideas as a response to Nazi war crimes, especially the
trial of Adolf Eichmann
...
Early humans who were disobedient did not
survive the dangers of the prehistoric world and we have not inherited their
genes
...
DEFINITIONS
Obedience = A form of social influence whereby an individual is influenced by a real or
imagined pressure from another
...
Dissent = Rejecting the demands from authority figures
...
Agentic state = If a person is perceived as having more authority than us, we make the
agentic shift and defer responsibility by acting on their behalf and can fall victim to moral
strain
...
Cognitive Dissonance = State of discomfort occurs when we are told two ideas that
conflict with each other
...
Procedure : 40 male participants, aged 20-50
Results : 65% of participants continued to the highest level of 450 volts
...
Conclusion : Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure,
even to the extent of killing an innocent human being
...
People tend to obey orders from
other people if they recognize their authority as morally right and/or legally based
...
EVALUATION
-
-
Credibility : Later studies (like Burger, 2009) have tended to back up Milgram’s
conclusions
...
Agency Theory also explains
events like the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide and the ethnic cleansings in
the Balkans in the ‘90s and in Syria today when these crimes are ordered by
authority figures
...
Milgram’s theory suggests that the Agentic State is an escape
from moral strain, but this is not what is observed in his studies
...
The artificial and unusual nature of the supporting research might
count against the theory
...
Evaluate one of Milgram’s variation studies
...
Compare the agency theory with the social impact theory as an explanation of
obedience
SOCIAL IMPACT THEORY
An explanation of the extent to which other people’s real or imagined presence can alter
the way an individual thinks, feels or acts
...
(Bibb Latane, 1981)
...
EVALUATION
-
-
Application of principles can be observed in everyday life
Predicting behaviour in unusual circumstances is useful
Growing research
Social Impact pays a lot of attention to the characteristics of the person giving the
orders but not much to the person receiving them
...
Treats people as passive
Milgram is simplistic compared to SIT
No discussion of moral strain
Can be measured
EXAM QUESTIONS
-
Compare the agency theory with the social impact theory as an explanation of
obedience
Evaluate Social Impact Theory
Sakina has been told by her teacher that she should do her homework this week if she is
to improve on her current grades
...
MILGRAM VARIATIONS
EXPERIMENT 7 - Telephone instructions / closeness of authority
Aim : To see if having the experimenter in the room affected the level of obedience
...
Initial
instructions given face to face and then the experimenter would leave the room and
would give instructions via telephone
Results : The number of participants that gave full volts (450V) sharply fell from 65% to
22
...
Participants continued to give lower shocks rather than increasing the voltage
and if asked they would lie
...
EXPERIMENT 10 - Rundown office block / Institutional context
Aim : To see if the outcome would be similar to the original research carried out at Yale
University
...
The same procedures were followed as the original, although the building was sparsely
furnished
...
5%) gave 450V and Milgram didn’t see much of a significant difference
...
Participants questioned th
Title: a level foundations in biology
Description: a level notes on foundation of biology made by a year 13 studdent, predicted A*
Description: a level notes on foundation of biology made by a year 13 studdent, predicted A*