Assessment 1Social Psychology

AO1 knowledge and understanding

Summarise the aims and context of Milgram's (1963) research 'Behavioural study of obedience'.

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Markscheme AO1• Discussion of the importance of obedience in real

life e.g. need for law and order; communal living.• Discussion of atrocities between 1933-1945 - the

large number of people who 'obeyed orders' to meet quotas at death camps.

• Aim to investigate the tendency to obey other people who are in a position of authority over them. Would people obey an authority figure to the extent that they would cause physical pain and harm to a victim if ordered to do so, violating codes of moral and ethical behaviour?

AO2 Analysis and Evaluation

Evaluate the methodology of Asch's (1955) research 'Opinions and Social Pressure'.

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Markscheme AO2• Biases in sample (age, gender, culture), e.g. all

participants male college students.• Validity issues (internal and external validity), e.g.

research set up lacks credibility; participants did not believe set up; does not relate to conformity in real life.

• Ethical Issues, e.g. the use of active and passive deception; the failure to protect participants from psychological harm.

• Reliability issues, e.g. replications of Asch's research have not always suggested reliability.

Assessment 1Research terms

What do these terms mean?

1. Naive participant2. Confederate 3. Repeated measures design4. Control group5. Laboratory experiment6. Participant 7. Volunteer sample8. Reliability

What do these terms mean?

1. Naive participant – person who is tricked2. Confederate – people who know what is

happening3. Repeated measures design – tried out a number

of times4. Control group – not experimented on5. Laboratory experiment – takes place in a lab6. Participant – people who are experimented on7. Volunteer sample – people choose to join8. Reliability – dependability of results