Famous studies in
Social Psychology
2011-12 AP Psychology
Chamberlain
Table of Contents
 For each of the following, you should record in
your social learning notes:
 name of researcher
 name of experiment
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
 purpose of experiment (research question)
 findings/data generated by experiment
 conclusions

criticisms against experiment (when
applicable)
6.
7.
8.
9.
Zimbardo—Standord prison experiment
Milgram--obedience to authority
Asch—conformity to group
Darley & Latane—bystander apathy
Jane Elliott—blue eyes vs. brown eyes
Additional experiments not included in this
slide show that you should include in your
notes:
Festinger & Carlsmith—cognitive
dissonance
Rosenthal & Jacobson—self-fulfilling
prophesy
Sherif—superordinate goals
LaPiere--attitudes
Zimbardo’s 1971
How do environment and status affect
people’s behavior?
The facts and procedures:
Participants:
•24 subjects, college-aged males, randomly
assigned to role of guard or prisoner
•Dr. Philip Zimbardo –the principle
experimenter AND the warden of the prison
Objective: Simulate prison life to study
deindividuation:
•see how being given the authority over others
can change personality and behaviors of the
guards
•see how being treated as a prisoner affects
personality of those assigned role of prisoner
 Video
Topic: Authority and Obedience
Experiment: Dr. Stanley Milgram’s “shock” experiment
 Research question: Will people do things they find morally objectionable if
an authority figure asks them to do so?
 Procedures: Subject is told to deliver increasing voltage of electric shock to
“memory test subject” in adjacent room. As screams and pleads of “stop”
are heard, subject is told by authority figure (psychologist in lab coat) to
“please continue.”
Milgram British reality show
French “Game of death”
 Findings: 63% of subjects continue delivering shocks to end
 Conclusion:
 People will go against their own conscience (moral code) when pressed to do
so by someone in authority
Topic: Conformity to social pressure
Experiment: Dr. Solomon Asch line experiments
 video clip
 Procedures: 1 subject in room full of
“plants”. Plants give obviously incorrect
answer. Will subject trust his/her own
perception and give honest answer or bend
to norm?
 Findings:

76% of subjects will go with group at least
once; 25% never bent to group’s opinion; 5%
always bent to group’s opinion
Topic: Bystander Apathy
 Darley and Latane (1968) experiments:
 epilepetic seizure –will anyone help?
 smoke filled room—will anyone leave or report smoke?
 Good Samaritan—are people more likely to help after hearing story from Bible
of the good samaritan?
 Video clip Smoke filled room experiment
 Greater # of people in group, slower people are to do anything
 Video clip: Genovese story and interview with Darley
 Update on Genovese story
 Video clip—British experiment Does bystander effect change based on
who the person in need is?
 What would you do? if you witnessed what looked like kidnapping?
+
Bystander effect: Why it happens…

Diffusion of responsibility; the larger the group, the less
pressure each witness feels to do anything helpful; increases
belief someone else will do something.

Fear of victimization in which people avoid conflict because of
the dread that they will be attacked if they help.

pluralistic ignorance--observing no one taking action is
translated into something like, ”I must be the only person who
thinks anything is wrong because nobody else is responding.”

People rationalize not taking actions e.g. "Well, no one else is
doing anything because: it's a lover's quarrel; its just teenage
pranks; its just innocent play acting,....etc."
Adapted from Schwartz, Allan Ph.D “The Bystander Effect, What Would
You Do?” 11/3/2009. Retrieved on 2/11/11 from
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=doc&id=33728
+
The blue eyes vs. brown eyes
experiment

Topic: How do prejudices and discrimination form?

How does being the victim of discrimination affect a person?

How does being the victimizer affect a person?

Video: A class divided
+
Elevator and male restroom
etiquette

Male restroom etiquette

Elevator etiquette