Obedience
Obedience
 Obedience: behavior changes produced by an authority figure or person perceived as
possessing power in a social situation
Stanley Milgram’s Infamous Obedience Experiments
 Yale University, 1963 – 1973
 Among the most controversial research in the history of psychology
 Challenged experimental ethics
 Originated out of questions about human nature stemming from the holocaust
Milgram’s Lab Set-up
The Milgram ‘Shock Generator’
Milgram Results:

Original Experiment: 63% shocked to 450 volts

Heart Condition: 65% shocked to 450 volts
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No Audio Group: 93% shocked to 450 volts
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Same Room Group: 40% shocked to 450 volts
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Forced Shock Group: 30% shocked to 450 volts
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Phone Command: 21% shocked to 450 volts
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Non-Status Authority: 20% shocked to 450 volts
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Three Teacher Groups: 10% shocked to 450 volts
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No Association with Yale Group: 50% shocked to 450 volts
Criticism of Milgram’s Research
 Criticism: The experiment put the subjects through needless, torturous anxiety
 Response: Only 1% of the subjects over the years regretted participating, while 80+% were
glad they had participated
Conclusions Drawn from the Milgram studies
 A powerful situation can produce high obedience and surprising behavior
 Separating the ‘teacher’ (or ‘obedient aggressor’) from his victim increases obedience
 Getting the ‘teacher’ (or ‘obedient aggressor’) alone increases obedience
 The physical presence of an authority figure increases obedience
Functional Specificity in the Brain
Phrenology
Franz Joseph Gall (1796)
Brain has specific areas of functioning
Highly developed brain areas force bumps on the cranial bone
Discounted as pseudoscience
fMRI
‘Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging’
MRI vs. fRMI
–MRI = reveals anatomy (15 images per 45 minutes)
–fMRI = reveals brain function (15 per second)
Non-invasive, no radiation, widely available
How fMRI Works
Neural activity takes energy
Blood flow increases in active areas
Hemoglobin is magnetic
Difference in ratio of oxyhemoglobin vs. deoxyhemoglobin = BOLD signal (blood-oxygen-leveldependence)
Changes in blood flow are reflected in fMRI images as bright areas
Questions About Brain Organization
Generalized or Specialized?
What do specific brain regions do? Analyze only? Provide consciousness?
How do specific brain regions get there? Genes? Or Experience?
Is most of the brain highly specified or more generalized?
Are specified areas rare exceptions?
Research On Faces vs. Objects
Showed subjects photos of faces – dot -- objects – dot – and so on…
Observed brain activity in occipital / fusiform region of the brain
Results: one specific region showed considerably higher activity when exposed to faces than
objects
The area is not exclusive to faces, though
First results to support ‘Fusiform Face Area’ [FFA]
Research on Places vs. Objects
Russell Epstein, Kanwisher and others
Exposed subjects to images of ‘places’
Used photos of places like ‘Florida,’ empty rooms, or actual lego layouts
Results: high activity in a bilateral, medial area in front of the FFA
‘Parahippocampus Place Area’ (PPA)
Research on Body Images vs. Objects
Showed subjects photos of body parts (feet, arms, legs, knees) vs. objects
Stick figures vs. random lines = response cut in half
‘Extrastriate Body Area’ (EBA)
Bilateral, occipital, external location
Photo Stimuli vs. Mental Imagery
Is a physical visual stimulus needed to activate the FFA or PPA?
Famous faces, famous places photos were shown
Then subjects asked to form a mental image of the face / place without an external stimulus
Face / place areas light up, but weaker
Autism and Brain Function
Robert Schultz [Yale University]
Schultz: FFA = ‘storing social knowledge’ and facial recognition
Autistic subjects did not show significant FFA activity when shown faces
FFA and amygdala [emotional center] activity remain dark / appear impaired
Frontal brain regions needed for empathizing are impaired
‘Superior temporal sulcus’ (STS) light up when another person (or animal) looks at a healthy
subject but not in autistic subjects
The Political Brain [1]
 Drew Westen (2006)
 Exposed voters to contradictory remarks from their preferred candidate
 Both conservatives and liberals
– Showed little activity in ‘reasoning’ area
– Emotional circuits became active
• Regulation of emotion circuits active
– Conflict resolution, moral judgment areas are active
• Increased activity in reward circuits
• Illustrated circuits used in confirmation bias
The Political Brain [2]
 Other research:
– Conservative brains oriented toward higher amygdala activity
• Amygdala = primary fear emotion area
– Liberal brains oriented toward anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left posterior insula
•
•
Anterior Cingulate Cortex = reward anticipation, decision making, empathy,
emotion
Left Posterior Insula = processes deep, visceral emotions
Social Rejection in the Brain

Naomi Eisenberger, Kipling Williams, et al

Cyberball to cause rejection

Social rejection linked with activity in the dorsal anterior cingulate and the anterior insula -two areas that show increased activity in response to physical pain
The Brain in Love

Helen Fisher, et al

Studied subjects experiencing intense, passionate love

Procedure:
–
subjects looked at a photo of their beloved
•
then countback task
–
then looked at a photo of an acquaintance
•
[countback task, repeat]…

Researchers compared brain activity related to long-term spousal relations (‘beloved
person’) and casual acquaintances

Right ventral tegmental area, right caudate nucleus are activated for intense, passionate love

Both are dopamine-rich areas that are associated with reward and motivation

Fisher’s hypothesis / claim: passionate love is a primary motivational system rather than
simply an emotion
‘Thoughts of Other People’ Area
Rebecca Saxe, MIT
Temporoparietal junction lights up when people think about other people's thoughts
Area does not activate when thinking about different aspects of other people
Used often as we try to figure out why others behave as they do