Milgram's Study of Obedience - Key Vocabulary

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms related to Milgram's study of obedience, including definitions and contextual meanings.

Obedience

The act of complying with the demands or orders of an authority figure.

Conformity

The change in an individual’s behavior to go along with the group.

Destructive Obedience

Following orders or commands that lead to harmful actions against others.

Normative Influence

The influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them.

Public Conformity

A surface behavior change that occurs when individuals follow group norms while privately disagreeing.

Agency Theory

A theory by Milgram suggesting that people shift from an autonomous state, where they see themselves as responsible for their actions, to an agentic state where they see themselves as instruments executing the orders of an authority.

Experimental Realism

The extent to which the experimental situation is compelling and engaging for subjects, convincing them to act as if the situation is real.

Eichmann in Jerusalem

A report by Hannah Arendt examining Adolf Eichmann's role in the Holocaust and the concept of the 'Banality of Evil'.

Situational Factors

External influences or circumstances that affect an individual's behavior in a particular context.

Dispositional Factors

Internal characteristics or personality traits that influence how a person behaves.

Independent Variable

The variable that is manipulated or changed in an experiment to observe its effects on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is measured or observed in an experiment to see how it is affected by changes in the independent variable.

Prods

Prompts given by the experimenter to encourage participants to continue the experiment when they show signs of reluctance.

Full-Blown Seizures

Severe medical episodes characterized by convulsions and loss of control over bodily movements.

Nuremberg Defense

The defense used by defendants at the Nuremberg Trials claiming they were just following orders from superiors.

Self-Selecting Sample

A research sample consisting of participants who have volunteered to take part in the study.

Ecological Validity

The extent to which the findings of a study can be generalized to real-world settings.

Confounding Variables

External factors that may affect the results of an experiment and can lead to incorrect conclusions.