Milgram's Obedience Study Overview

A study investigating the willingness of participants to obey an authority figure's instructions, even when those instructions conflict with their personal conscience.

A mental state where individuals see themselves as agents acting on behalf of an authority figure, thereby reducing their personal responsibility for their actions.

The act of complying with commands given by an authority figure, regardless of personal beliefs or feelings.

Procedures changed in Milgram's study to examine the impact of factors like the learner's proximity to the participant and the experimenter's authority figure on obedience rates.

Influence of the learner's physical distance or emotional distress on the participant's obedience in Milgram's experiment.

The effect of the experimenter's physical presence or method of communication on the participants' willingness to obey.

A significant percentage (62.5%) of participants in Milgram's study continued to the highest level of shock.

Factors of the environment or situation that influence people's behavior, in the context of Milgram's study.

The idea that scientific knowledge is not solely based on objective facts, but also influenced by social beliefs and the perceived legitimacy of the scientific community.

A technique used in Milgram's experiment where the intensity of the shock gradually increases, making participants more likely to comply with each subsequent demand.

Participants' judgments about the experimenter's ability and knowledge, which influences their willingness to obey because they trust their expertise.

When participants witness someone else refusing to obey, it significantly decreases their own obedience, as they feel less compelled to conform.

People are more likely to obey when they identify with the authority figure's goals and believe they are making a positive contribution.

The perception of tasks as either morally good or bad influences obedience. Participants are more likely to comply with tasks perceived as virtuous.

In Milgram's study, the point at which most participants express significant distress and hesitation. This serves as a critical point in assessing obedience.

Burger's ethical replication of Milgram's study, stopping at 150 volts, aimed to assess obedience levels without causing significant distress.

Using virtual reality to create realistic simulations of obedience studies, allowing researchers to study psychological responses without causing harm.

Even when participants obey, their responses suggest they are concerned about the learner's well-being and attempt to help.

The common understanding of Milgram's study is misleading as it suggests unthinking obedience to authority. It overlooks the importance of perceiving authority as legitimate and relatable.

People are more likely to obey authority figures they see as legitimate and with whom they identify. Building a positive relationship with those you influence is crucial.

Shared ways of seeing the world, guiding behaviors and outlining how people should act. They are not simply individual behaviors.

Group processes involve conforming to social norms. Social influence describes the processes by which norms form, are maintained, or change.

Demonstrated how group norms emerge through interaction. Individuals' judgments change upon exposure to others' judgments.

Sherif's study had two conditions: judging alone then in a group, and judging in a group then alone. The goal was to see how judgments change in different social contexts.

The study demonstrated that individuals, exposed to group judgments, adopted a common position – a group norm. This norm persisted even when individuals were alone.

Sherif's study exemplified informational influence, where individuals conform based on the belief that others have more accurate information or interpretations.

Investigated conformity even when objective reality is clear, using a line judgment task where participants had to agree or disagree with a majority.

Asch's study used confederates who provided incorrect answers to manipulate the social situation and observe the participants' responses.

Many participants conformed to the wrong majority answers, showing a significant level of influence even against objective evidence.

Asch's study demonstrated normative influence, where individuals conform to avoid social disapproval, even if they know others are wrong.

An integration of Sheriff and Asch's findings proposes that social influence occurs through two processes: informational (seeking information) and normative (avoiding social disapproval).

We tend to trust and expect agreement with fellow group members (referent informational influence). This impacts how we judge information.

This study showed that people laugh more when others in their in-group are laughing, demonstrating the impact of expected agreement on behavior.

The tendency to favor and trust members of one's own group more than members of other groups.

The process by which group norms are formed and changed through interactions between members.

Genuine belief in the validity of a group's opinion, even when it differs from one's own.

Conforming to a group's expectations outwardly, without necessarily agreeing with the belief.

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible.

The tendency for infants to reach for a hidden object in a previous location, even when they see it moved to a new location.

The tendency to repeat a behavior, even when it is no longer effective or appropriate.

Substances that can cause atypical development in a child if exposed during pregnancy.

Connection between neurons in the brain that allows communication between them.

The process of covering neurons in the brain with a fatty substance called myelin, which speeds up communication between neurons.

The brain's ability to form and maintain connections between neurons.

A range of physical, mental, and behavioral impairments caused by exposure to alcohol during pregnancy.

The study of how thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving abilities develop over time.

A theory proposing that development occurs in distinct stages, each characterized by unique abilities and challenges.

Piaget's stage of cognitive development (2-7 years) where children struggle to think logically and see things from other perspectives.

The inability to understand or see things from another person's perspective.

A test used by Piaget to assess egocentrism; children are asked to describe what a doll sees from a different position.

Understanding that changes to the appearance of an object do not alter its underlying properties (like quantity or mass).

A set of logical mental rules children use to solve problems; develops gradually and is crucial for abstract thinking.

Piaget's stage (7-12 years) where children can think logically about concrete objects and events.

Piaget's final stage (beyond 12 years) where children can think abstractly, hypothetically, and systematically.

The idea that children actively construct their understanding of the world through experience and interaction.

Children construct knowledge through interaction with others, guided by communication and relationships.

The gap between what a child can do independently and what they can achieve with help from a more knowledgeable person.

When a child uses the emotional reactions of others to guide their own behavior.

A theory proposing that children progress through four stages (sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational) as their cognitive abilities develop.

Piaget believed children actively construct knowledge (constructivism) and progress through distinct stages of cognitive development, each with its own characteristics.

Piaget's theory was criticized for focusing too much on individual development and not enough on social influences and cultural variations.

The grasp of a concept's meaning, based on its principles and relationships to other concepts.

The skill to perform steps or procedures correctly and efficiently.

The idea that learning and development are heavily influenced by interactions with others, particularly those who are more knowledgeable.

Providing support and guidance to help learners achieve a task that they couldn't do alone.

A specialized form of communication used by adults with infants, characterized by exaggerated movements and sounds.

The idea that inanimate objects in motion only interact directly by touching each other.

The ability to understand that others have their own thoughts, feelings, and perspectives, different from our own.

A test that assesses a child's understanding of another person's incorrect belief, even if the child knows the truth.

A set of cognitive abilities that allow us to control our thoughts, emotions, and actions to achieve our goals.

Internal representations of thoughts, beliefs, desires, or feelings that shape our understanding of ourselves and others.

The capacity to recognize that individuals possess different knowledge and information about the world.

The understanding of other people's mental states that is shown through non-verbal behavior, like looking times.

The ability to control impulses and resist distractions. This is about stopping yourself from doing something.

The ability to hold information in your mind and use it to solve problems. It's like a mental workspace.

The ability to switch between tasks or change your focus easily. It's about being flexible.

A classic experiment that tests children's ability to delay gratification. It measures their ability to resist eating a marshmallow immediately for a bigger reward.

A stroke occurs when blood flow to part of the brain is interrupted, causing damage to brain cells.

The Basal Ganglia is a group of structures deep in the brain that plays a crucial role in controlling movement, including planning, initiating, and executing movements.

Efferent nerves carry signals from the central nervous system (CNS) to the body's muscles, glands, and organs.

A polygraph measures changes in physiological responses like heart rate, blood pressure, and skin conductance to supposedly detect deception.

Polygraph tests are unreliable and can show false positives or false negatives.

Phineas Gage suffered severe brain damage when a metal rod went through his head, altering his personality and behavior.

The Amygdala is a brain structure crucial for processing emotions, particularly fear.

Damage to the Amygdala can impair fear conditioning, recognition of fearful facial expressions, and the experience of fear itself.

A neuron is a nerve cell in the brain that transmits information throughout the nervous system.

A neuron has a cell body that contains the nucleus, dendrites that receive information from other neurons, an axon that transmits information, and axon terminals that release neurotransmitters.

Myelination is the process of coating nerve fibers with a fatty substance called myelin, which increases the speed of signal transmission.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that transmit signals between neurons across synapses.

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure, reward, movement, and motivation.

The Dopamine System is a network of neurons that produce and release dopamine, with important pathways in the brain involved in movement, reward, and motivation.

Psychoactive Drugs are substances that affect the brain and behavior by altering neurotransmitter systems.

The ability to interpret and make sense of visual information, involving processes from the eye to the brain.

The ability to judge the distance of objects and perceive the world in three dimensions.

Color perception relies on the activity of different types of cones in the retina. Comparing their signals allows the brain to perceive color.

Principles that describe how our brains organize visual information into meaningful wholes, rather than just separate parts.

Humans have an innate tendency to pay more attention to faces and face-like patterns.

Upside-down faces are harder to recognize than upright faces, showing we process faces differently.

When a face is upside down, we are less likely to notice subtle changes in facial features, showing how holistic face processing works.

A model of face recognition that involves several stages: structural encoding, familiar face recognition, and linking to personal identity.

Faces are crucial for communication, expressions, social cues, and identifying individuals.

A powerful communicative signal involving the duration and timing of eye contact, used for turn-taking in conversation.

Tasks are either 'hot' (involving emotions) or 'cool' (focused on thinking).

A group of developmental disorders characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, and behavior.

Children with ASD have difficulties imitating actions, especially those without visible effects.

Brain cells that fire both when you perform an action and when you observe someone else performing the same action.

Impairments in mirror neuron function may contribute to social and communication challenges in ASD.

Direct eye contact can be a powerful and sometimes overwhelming experience for individuals with ASD.

The study of the biological basis of behavior and mental processes.

A discredited theory that claimed personality traits and abilities could be determined by the bumps on the skull.

A neurologically-based condition where face recognition is significantly impaired, while object recognition remains relatively intact.

The ability to recognize faces by the unique spatial relationships between facial features (e.g., the distance between the eyes, the shape of the nose).

The idea that cognitive processes are grounded in our physical experiences, particularly through sensory and motor systems.

A process in embodied cognition where we use our sensory and motor systems to imagine or re-experience an event, even if it's not physically happening.

Actions influence perception, where physical actions prime the perception of objects related to those actions. For example, holding a gun makes you more likely to perceive a gun in an image.

Perception influences action, where perceiving objects activates representations of actions involving those objects. For example, seeing a large object might make you react with a power grip.

The idea that thinking and understanding is rooted in our physical experiences, relying on sensory and motor systems.

The idea that remembering is a process of reconstructing an event using existing knowledge, expectations, and inferences; this can lead to errors and distortions.

In stressful situations, we tend to focus on the most important details, often at the expense of other details. This effect is particularly strong with weapons.

A mental framework or structure that organizes our knowledge about a specific topic or object.

Our memories are influenced by schemas. We are more likely to remember schema-consistent information and less likely to remember details that don't fit our expectations.

Memory of personal experiences from a specific time and place, like remembering your first day of school.

General knowledge and facts that are devoid of specific time or place of learning, like knowing the capital of France.

Memories that are not based on real events but are created through suggestion or imagination.

This paradigm demonstrates that false memories can be easily formed. When presented with a list of related words, people often falsely recall a related but unpresented word (the "critical lure").

Memory for skills and habits, like riding a bike or typing on a keyboard.

When we fail to see things that are right in front of us because our attention is focused elsewhere.

The inability to detect changes in a visual scene, especially when our attention is interrupted. Things can disappear or change right in front of us without us noticing.

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptiveness: the environment in which our ancestors evolved, shaping our biological and psychological traits.

Our primal fear responses are better suited to ancient threats (snakes, spiders) than modern ones (cars, guns).

Our cravings for sugary, fatty foods were adaptive in the EEA, but are harmful in our modern food abundance.

The study of how human psychology evolved to solve adaptive problems in the EEA.

EP suggests aggression is a tool to solve social problems, like resource competition, status, or mating.

EP is criticized for relying on backwards inferences from modern traits to the EEA, which are hard to test.

EP is criticized for being misused to justify harmful ideas like eugenics or genetic determinism

Compares humans to similar species, human cultural groups, and developmental stages to understand mind evolution.

Combines developmental, phylogenetic, and cross-cultural perspectives to uncover how behavior evolved and varies.

One sex chooses mates based on specific traits, influencing the evolution of those traits in the other sex.

Information consistent with a pre-existing schema (mental framework) is more likely to be remembered, while ambiguous details are influenced by that schema.

The tendency to incorporate incorrect information into one's memory, especially with the passage of time, even if it wasn't present originally.

The way in which questions or suggestions can influence a witness's memory, potentially altering their recall of an event.

Young children are particularly susceptible to suggestive questioning, which can affect their recall of events due to increased compliance and limited cognitive abilities.

Two distinct types of memory: Familiarity is a sense of knowing something without remembering the specific details, while recollection involves remembering specific information about the event.

Confusion about the origin of a memory, making it difficult to determine whether it's a true memory or a false one.

Mistakenly identifying a familiar face or object as the perpetrator of a crime, due to prior exposure.

Eyewitness identification is notoriously unreliable, often leading to innocent people being wrongly convicted.

An organization dedicated to exonerating wrongly convicted individuals, particularly focusing on cases involving faulty eyewitness identification.

A technique used to enhance eyewitness recall, encouraging the witness to recreate the context of the event, providing all details, recalling the event in different orders, and describing it from different perspectives.