A psychologist studying obedience conducted the following experiment.

A confederate (stooge) approached people in the street and instructed them to pick up a piece of litter and put it in a nearby bin. None of the people approached had dropped the litter.

There were two groups in the experiment.

Group A The confederate (stooge) was dressed in everyday clothing.

Group B The confederate (stooge) was dressed in a uniform.

The psychologist recorded how many people in each group obeyed the instruction of the confederate (stooge).

(a) Identify the experimental design that was used in this study. Briefly explain one advantage of using this experimental design in this study. [3 marks]

(b) Identify the independent variable and the dependent variable in this experiment. [2 marks]

(c) Use your knowledge of research into obedience to explain the likely outcome of this experiment. [3 marks]

(d) Briefly outline one ethical issue that might have arisen in this experiment. [2 marks] [10 marks]

Answer:

(a) Independent groups design.

An advantage of using an independent groups design is that demand characteristics are less likely. As participants will be approached by a confederate in uniform or everyday clothing, they are less likely to guess the aim of the experiment and more likely to respond naturally, improving the validity of the findings.

(b)

Independent variable: whether the researcher was dressed in everyday clothing or a uniform.

Dependent variable: the number of people who picked up a piece of litter in each condition.

(c) Participants are more likely to obey instructions from a confederate dressed in a uniform than from one dressed in everyday clothing. Research by Bickman (1974) found that people were almost twice as likely to obey a request made by someone wearing a security guard's uniform compared with someone in casual clothes. This suggests that uniforms enhance the perceived legitimacy of an authority figure, leading to higher levels of obedience.

(d) One ethical issue that might have arisen in this experiment is lack of informed consent. The participants were unaware that they were taking part in a psychological study when the confederate approached them in the street. This means they did not give permission for their behaviour to be observed or recorded.