Social Core

Backgroud Research: Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Study

AIM: The study attempted to create an institution to investigate the behaviour of groups that were unequal in terms of power, status, & resources

METHOD:experimetnal case study
SAMPLE: 15 male volunteers who all underwent 3 phases of screening

The participants were tested on:
a) Social variables: social identification, awareness of cognitive alternatives, rightwing authoritarianism;
b) Organizational variables: compliance with rules, organizational citizenship;
c) Clinical variables: self-efficacy, depression

There were 3 interventions: permeability of roles, cognitive alternative & legitimacy

They stopped the study on day 8 due to conditions of the participants

Background: German's Are Different

AIM: to investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person

METHOD: laboratory experiment

SAMPLE: 40 males aged between 20 and 50 years of age, were recruited from the New Haven area, volunteer sample

Participant drew lots and get the position of teacher, they have to help the learner remember some words, but of they don't they get a shock. These go up by 15 volts each time and start at 45. The 'teacher' get a sample shock of 45. If they resisted, the experimenter said 1 of 4 prods to get them to carry on. Highest shock is 450 volts.

Background: Kitty Genovese's Murder

AIM: to investigate factors affecting helping behaviour. The factors they were interested included:
i) The type of victim (drunk or ill)
ii) The race of the victim (black or white)
iii) The speed of helping
iv) The frequency of helping
v) The race of the helper
METHOD: longitudinal field study. A single trial was a non-stop, 7.5-minute journey in either direction
SAMPLE: Opportinuty of around 4000 people: anyone who was on that train at the time of the study

There were 2 female observers & two male models. The models helped the victim when no-one stepped in. The observers noted the total number of passengers who came to the victim's assistance, plus their race, gender & location.
The observers also noted the race, gender and location of every passenger, seated or standing, in the critical & adjacent areas. A second observer also noted how long it took for help to arrive. The observers also recorded comments made by nearby passengers and also tried to elicit comments from a passenger sitting next to them