When we commit the fundamental attribution error in explaining people's behaviour we overestimate the power of personality traits and underestimate the power of social influence. Discuss this statement with reference to Milgram's studies on obedience.
When we commit the fundamental attribution error in explaining people's behaviour we overestimate the power of personality traits and underestimate the power of social influence. Discuss this statement with reference to Milgram's studies on obedience. Milgram (1963) demonstrated that the majority of the subjects in his studies on obedience (65 per cent) - "average, decent American citizens" (Milgram, 1963. p.5 ) who had volunteered for a Yale University experiment on learning - would administer painful electric shocks up to 450 volts to another volunteer, despite the latter's protests. The findings of Milgram's studies are frequently cited as an example of the power of situational strengths in shaping behaviour and of the tendency to underestimate social influence and instead attribute people's behaviour to their dispositions or character, i.e. to commit the fundamental attribution error (e.g., Bierbrauer, 1979; Safer, 1980). With reference to the behaviour of the subjects in Milgram's studies on obedience this essay critically explores the claim that we commit the fundamental attribution error when we overestimate the power of personality traits and underestimate the power of social influence. The essay begins by outlining Milgram's basic procedure. It then discusses the extent to which Milgram's findings can be explained in terms of the power of the situation.
How have Milgram's studies on obedience helped us to understand this topic?
Lucy Kyle How have Milgram's studies on obedience helped us to understand this topic? Some of the most horrific violations on human life occurred during the 2nd World War. These shocking atrocities were carried out by fellow human beings who, afterwards attempted to justify themselves by declaring that they had only been following orders. It is difficult to imagine these people as anything other than sadistic psychopaths, yet it seems impossible that they were all like that. It is clear that personality does not always explain how people act. It was these appalling persecutions which ordinary people willingly carried out during the 2nd world war which influenced Stanley Milgram (1963; cited in The Perils of Obedience, www.colchsfc.ac.uk/psychology/milgram.htm, 23/10/02) to investigate the possibility that normal people would readily administer pain onto another person when instructed to by a figure of authority in controlled settings. His experiment produced intriguing results and is widely considered to be the greatest research in modern social psychology. Throughout this essay I hope to explore how Milgram conducted his experiments and what his findings mean to social psychology. The initial obedience experiment was carried out on men in New Haven, Connecticut. It was not until later that it was carried out on women, mainly because of Milgram's original interest in what
Does watching pornography on television make subsequent aggressive behaviour by viewers more likely?
Social and Personality Psychology No. Words 1636 TITLE: Does watching pornography on television make subsequent aggressive behaviour by viewers more likely? Does watching pornography on television make subsequent aggressive behaviour by viewers more likely? The aim of this essay is to consider the effect of watching pornography (on the television) on subsequent aggressive behaviour. Aggression can be defined as "behaviour that is intended to injure another person who does not want to be injured" (Brehm et al., 1999, p. 385), pornography can be defined as "any form of written or pictorial representation that either is obscene or has as its sole function the sexual arousal of the beholder" (Reber and Reber, 2001, p.548). Pornography is widely available through a number of medium, such as TV, videos, magazines and newspapers. In terms of the effect pornography has on subsequent behaviour it is important to distinguish between non-violent and violent pornography. One of the reasons why aggressive behaviour may be linked with pornography is because watching sexually explicit material is likely to cause an increase in arousal level, and so subsequent behaviour may fit the arousal-effect model (Brehm, 1999). This implies that aggression is effected by the intensity of arousal (high, low or neutral) as well as the type of emotion produced by the stimulus (positive, negative or
Antonio Machado's vision of Spain as shown in Campos de Castilla.
Antonio Machado's vision of Spain as shown in Campos de Castilla Composed between 1912 and 1917 Antonio Machado's Campos de Castilla describes the beautiful landscape of the Castile lands and through them Spain's political and social state during these years. Tunon de Lara aptly puts 'la obra de un autor pertenece...al periodo en que fue escrito'; there is no exception in Machado's poetry which is set firmly in his reality. As one of the primary poets of the generation of '98, Machado writes examining aspects of Spain. He describes a Spain 'ayer dominadora' yet now in depression, looking at the effects of this depression on the people. Machado also discusses the future, trying to find an identity for Spain, her lands and subjects. From the beginning of Campos de Castilla Machado's intention is to describe his vision of Spain. He achieves this by using three protagonists in his poetry and showing how they react against and with each other. These are the landscape or setting of his poem, the people he writes of, and time, which is shown by the seasons. Machado's primary subject is the landscape of his country. Whether this landscape is 'agrios campos' or 'tierra fria', it is shown in relation to the people that live on it and how it changes through the year and over the years. Each poem represents a moment in the time of the people and the landscape itself. Richard Havard
Evaluate the contribution of the social perspective to our understanding of language and meaning and the psychology of sex and gender
DSE212: TMA06 [DSE212: TMA06] Question Evaluate the contribution of the social perspective to our understanding of language and meaning and the psychology of sex and gender. Essay Different psychological perspectives lead to different theories providing diverse insights into the same issue i.e. language and meaning. They focus their enquiry in different ways and consequently have dissimilar objects of knowledge. Each perspective asks different questions, use different methods and data and produce therefore different theories. These perspectives can be complementary, conflicting and/or coexisting, whereby each perspective and theory provides a variety of ways of applying their findings to everyday psychological problems. By focusing on the social psychological perspective, this essay will initially evaluate how this perspective contributes to a greater understanding in the formation, acquisition and use of language and how this understanding co-exists with, and may be complimented by or is in contrast to, other perspectives and how this fits in with the understanding of sex and gender. Social psychological perspectives emphasise the importance of investigating cognition by studying how meaning is created through participation and cultural practices and through language. The evolvement, acquisition and application of language used by humans, to express meaning and pursue
Assessing Competency to Take the Oath
Assessing Competency to Take the Oath 'I swear by Almighty God that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.' This oath is well-known within the context of the courtroom, uttered by a witness prior to giving evidence. Considerable value is placed on it as breaking the oath by telling a lie (perjuring) is a criminal offence. Before giving evidence, a witness' competence in understanding the nature and consequences of the oath are assessed. A competent witness is considered one who fully understands that he is obligated to tell the truth when under oath and if he is discovered to have lied or misled the court, will suffer the appropriate penalty for perjury. Thus, the purpose of the oath is to assure the accuracy of the subsequent testimony. With the adoption of the Federal Rules of Evidence in 1979, Rule 601 provided that 'every person is competent to be a witness except as otherwise provided in these rules' yet competency hearings granted courts 'the power to disqualify witnesses with limited mental or moral capacities' (Gold, 1992). There has been much debate concerning whether people suffering from specific mental illnesses, developmental disorders or learning disabilities are able to be competent witnesses, as those providing evidence in court must understand the difference between truth and falsehood and appreciate the obligation to tell the
The more violence is watched by children, the more they may become less sensitive to the pain and sufferings of others and the more likely they will behave aggressively or harmful towards others.
The more violence is watched by children, the more they may become less sensitive to the pain and sufferings of others and the more likely they will behave aggressively or harmful towards others. The effects of violence shown on television towards children may vary depending on the child's age group, how much television they watch each day and their reactions to what they have been watching. What children see, they tend to imitate. And what they see on both broadcast and cable television is violence, real and stimulated (Arnow, 1995:12). There is a strong correlation between the viewing of violent images and aggressive behaviour among children. The more a child is exposed to violence on television, there is a greater chance it will have a long lasting effect on their behaviour (Arnow, 1995:12). The impact of television on children is easily understood because most infants have the desire and capacity to imitate adult behaviour (Arnow, 1995:14). Young children tend to mirror adult facial expressions and behaviours. As the child becomes a toddler, they are incapable of distinguishing reality from fantasy on television. Parents should continually remind their children that television is not real life (Luke, 1988:124). Violent television shows; such as wrestling are making kids fight more on the playgrounds and making society generally a more violent place to
What does Bandura's study of Aggression tell us about development?
What does Bandura's study of Aggression tell us about development? * Bandura's research suggested that we learn our behaviour from our social environment. * Bandura used this research to develop his Social Learning Theory. This theory sets out one way in which children develop their behaviour as they grow older. * The theory (SLT) suggests that we can learn from role models or significant others, simply by observing their behaviour - no reinforcement is needed. The role model must be someone who is of high social status for that individual - an adult, teacher, popstar, or older peer. This person is seen as successful and worthy of copying. * Bandura found that children will model their behaviour on an adult role model. The model acted in an aggressive way (and showed the same types of aggression - imitation) than children who had observed a non-aggressive model. This was only true of children who observed the same sex role model, which suggests that females are not significant others for boys. * These findings would suggest that a child's development can be easily shaped into any form of behaviour. According to this theory, a child could develop anti-social or pro-social behaviour by observation. * One other finding was that the children who observed the non-aggressive model also showed some aggression (non-imitative aggression). This would suggest that they had
In half of the reported cases of domestic violence it was found that both spouses were violent, it just tended to be that one person was considerably stronger than the other.(3) Aggressive behavior has been a huge part of humankind since people
Aggression is a critical part of animal existence, which is an inherent driving force to humans, as we, too, are animals. The source of aggression within humans is a long summative list, but before trying to understand its source one must apply a working definition of aggression. Encyclopedia Britannica as any action of an animal that serves to injure an opponent or prey animal or to cause an opponent to retreat defines aggressive behavior. (7) David G. Myers states that aggression is any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. (9) There are many types of aggressive behaviors, which can be differentiated from the factual act to the hidden motives. For example, an aggressive behavior can be negative or positive, accidental or intended, and physical or mental. Aggression can take numerous forms, the act of hitting a wall to release aggression has some of the same roots as playing football and enjoying hitting the quarterback. A child yelling at his parents could be equated, in its aggressiveness, with hitting one's horn when one is cut off on 495. Aggression is also a relative construct. What might seem like a terribly aggressive act to one person, most often the victim, might seem like an induced response to the perpetrator. (3) Psychologist Arlene Stillwell performed an experiment where she assigned ordinary college students at random to play the role of a
What is the relationship between institutions like the family, school, university … and the media? Find an example of a recent instance of Moral Panic in the media. How does the text represent youth?
JOURNAL COM3080 Week 2 What is the relationship between institutions like the family, school, university ... and the media? Find an example of a recent instance of Moral Panic in the media. How does the text represent youth? What are some of the criticisms which have been made of the Moral Panic model? There is an intricate relationship between the media and the fundamental institutions of family, school, and university. The media are often used as a means to propagate social views and norms across to these groups of consumers. The family often use media as a tool to promote interaction between family members (although it is questionable whether sitting in the same room, watching television for instance, can be classed as interaction). The family, along with school and university populations use the media as a means of communication (sharing of ideas presented through the media, eg. News) and to confirm membership to certain social groups and define social identities (eg. In the 'cool group' at school it may be expected that everyone watches 'FRIENDS', i.e. you have to watch 'FRIENDS' to be cool). The popular Australian television drama series 'The Secret Life of Us' marketed toward the 16-30 age group has caused a degree of moral panic amongst organisations which promote drug and alcohol awareness such as the Australian Drug Foundation (ADF). The text represents