Psychology Revision 25th July 2023

Question:
1. Victor is employed as a computer programmer; he was instructed by his manager at work to
tidy the store cupboard. Although this was not part of his day-to-day job, Victor did as he
was instructed and tidied the store cupboard.
a. Describe using social power theory, why Victor tidied the cupboard (4 marks)
b. Explain two weaknesses of social power theory as an explanation for why Victor
tidied the cupboard (2 marks)
Answers:
A) Social power theory explains obedience due to the power an authority figure has over an
individual. There are many types of power, but a few stand out, in this instance: Mainly the
fact that Victor’s manager asked him to tidy the cupboard, Victor obeyed the request as his
manage has reward power, and can give positive or negative rewards to Victor if he obeys
or disobeys. The manager also has legitimate power since he is in a formal position of
power and has authority. Coercive power is also present as the manager has the ability to
enforce a real or perceived punishment on Victor had he disobeyed. Expert power may also
play a role, as his manager most probably has more experience and knows more about the
field that Victor does, hence he obeys commands.

Overall, since the manger has a combination of powers that can have an effect on Victor, he
chooses to obey his command to avoid any negative results had he disobeyed.

B) One of the main weaknesses of social power theory is that it does not factor in other parts
of obedience such as personality. Moreover, it’s not as accurate of an explanation since
conflicting and more valid theories can also explain this specific scenario better such as
agency theory. (Make sure to mention the names of theories here)

Question:
2. Katrina is a nurse, one of the doctors in the hospital ward tells Katrina to give a patient a
higher dose of the medication that they would normally have. Katrina is worried about the
increase in medication, but she gives a higher dose anyways

Describe using agency theory why Katrina gives it (2 marks)

Answer:
Agency theory was based off of Milgram’s experiments where they claimed that the
teachers would administer shocks since they were in an agentic state and did not have
responsibility over the outcome. A similar scenario can be observed with Katrina, since her
superior, the doctor asked for the administration of the higher dose, she would obey since she was
in an agentic state to the doctor, and does not think she is responsible for the outcome of her
actions as the doctor requested it, despite moral strain as she knows this dosage is too high, she
administers it.
Question:
3. Describe how Burger (2009) screened the participants before they took part in the st udy

Answer:

Burger (2009) used a two-step screening process to screen participants. Initially they filtered out
individuals who knew about psychology, particularly those who knew about Milgram’s study, and
those with mental health conditions in the second screening by making the participants complete
Beck’s Anxiety Test.

Question:
4. Since leaving school, Riya has earned money by working at her local food store. She has
always obeyed the instructions of her manager, carried out her tasks well and supported
customers when they asked for help. The store manager has noticed how hard Riya has
been working and has given her a position on the store manager training program. Riya says
this is due to luck, but the store manager insists that this is due to her hard-working
personality.

Discuss how obedience factors could explain why Riya has been successful at work (8
marks)

Answer:
Riya has implemented many techniques in her path to success in work. Initially she would
be under an Agentic state to her manager, since Milgram explained that they would obey
regardless of consequence, since the manager is responsible for anything that would happen as a
consequence of her actions and may act even though she has moral strain over the task assigned
by the manager, resulting in obedience.

Moreover, she would have observed and used some parts of social power theory too in her
success. Mainly observing the manager’s legitimate power of an authority position, and Riya
obeying accordingly due to the power he possesses. She may also have knowledge over other
powers such as the manager’s reward power, as he can offer negative or positive rewards. Coercive
power too could affect her obedience since she is aware of the punishments that can be offered if
she disobeyed.

Other situational factors such as the culture she lives in may also be affecting obedience, as
experiments such as Shanab and Yahya’s (1977) and Khillam and Maan (1974) show differences in
obedience levels based on culture. The location of the shot coo could have played a role, as
Milgram’s experiment 10 revealed that there is a difference in obedience between experiments
conducted at a university and in a rundown building. More factors such as the uniform of the
manger and her gender may also have played a role in her overall obedience.
(Mention- Proximity, uniform, location, culture, gender)
(DO NOT MENTION SOCIAL POWER THEORY- since it doesn’t ask about it in this question)

Question:
5. Milgram (1963) conducted research in to Obedience, that included a laboratory experiment
at Yale University.
a. State the findings of the study (4 marks)
 b. Explain 3 strengths of Milgram’s laboratory research into Obedience (3 marks)

Answers:

A) 65% of participants obeyed to the end of the experiment, while 14 participants continued upto
450V in the experiment, and 100% of the participants went upto the 300V point. Milgram also
observed uncontrollable seizures in 3 of the participants, as well as distress in most of the
participants.
(Mention both quantitative, and qualitative data when asked about “findings”)

b) Many strengths of Milgram’s experiments are due to the laboratory setup, which allows for more
reliable data. They also consist of standardized procedures, which aids in the experiment’s
replicability. Milgram’s experiment also had high task validity, since the main aim of the experiment
was mostly achieved.

Question:
6. Psychologists claim that there are different types of conformity, including compliance and
internalization.
A teacher claims that her students conform to the school’s expectations of punctuality, tidy
uniform, good attendance and handing in homework because they have internalized these.
However, her friend argues that the students’ behavior is more likely to be due to
compliance with
the school’s expectations and not internalization.
Discuss how compliance and internalization can explain the behavior of the students in
school.

Answer:

Compliance and internalization can both explain why the students chose to conform to the school’s
requirements. However, the argument that compliance made the students conform is also valid
since the students
may just be following the rules in the school setting only and not when they are in other settings,
and the compliance theory explains that an individual changes their behavior outwardly in public
environments and not when they are in private, and it’s often short term and doesn’t affect an
individual too significantly, for example, a student may choose to conform to the school’s uniform
requirements in school, but may not when they are going out elsewhere.
(So that they would conform to group norms, and won’t get in trouble)

The argument about Internalization can also explain the students’ conformity. The theory states
that this is the strongest form of conformity as the individual in question not only changes their
public behavior, but also their personal behavior permanently. Which separates it heavily from
compliance, since it changes both behavior, and how long an individual chooses to conform. An
example for this in context would be a child being punctual to any event regardless of whether it’s
a school or private occasion.
(If they believe in the school expectations.)
Moreover, compliance could perhaps be the cause of the internalization of conformity to the
school’s rules and regulations, as with enough changes to their public behavior, students could
eventually
internalize it and carry those traits and behavior into their personal lives as well.

Question:
7. Billy is 18 years old and is a member of the local volunteer group. He is asked to help four
people over 70 years old with everyday tasks. He agrees to help, but does not believe t hat this
is important. Billy would rather spend more time with his friends playing basketball.
Billy is also asked to train a children's basketball team by their coach. He agrees to train
the children because he believes it is important to improve their skills. Billy chooses not to play
basketball with his friends that day.

Describe using compliance why Billy helped the people over 70 years old.

Answer:

Billy chose to help the 70-year-olds because he wanted to comply to the requirements of the local
volunteer group even though he doesn’t think he needs to. Since compliance involves the change
of an individual’s public behavior and beliefs short term, but does not change their public behavior
or beliefs. This explains Billy’s compliance.