The following results are percentages of participants who gave the maximum shock, in variations of Milgram's experiment into obedience to authority.

What do these results suggest about the power of the confederates in variations of Milgram's study? [4 marks]

Answer: The results suggest that the confederates had a powerful influence on whether participants obeyed the experimenter's orders or not. When the two confederates in the room were obedient, the percentage of participants who gave the maximum shock increased to 92.5%, compared with the baseline level of 65% (a 27.5% increase), in Milgram's original study without confederates. However, when the two confederates were disobedient, the percentage of participants who gave the maximum shock dropped sharply to 10% (a 55% decrease). This demonstrates that disobedient confederates had an even greater impact. This shows that the confederates acted as role models, either reinforcing the expectation to obey or providing support for resistance to authority.

Examiner Comment: It is important for students to focus their answers on the relevant parts of the extract. The table included some irrelevant information (such as the condition where the experimenter was in a different room), which could be ignored when discussing the power of the confederates. It is also helpful to compare the size of the differences from the baseline condition, as shown in the example above, to demonstrate deeper engagement with the data and the scenario.