22.12: Chapter Exercises

Chapter Exercises

1. Explain why you think the subjects in the Milgram experiments on obedience did things they would not have done on their own. To what extent did the experimenter simply get them to do things (even though they knew they shouldn’t) and to what extent did they change the way that they thought or reasoned about things?
2. Could low-balling have played a role in the Milgram studies? Explain.
3. What lessons can be learned from the Milgram experiments? What could be done to make people less likely to do what the subjects in these experiments did? Defend your answers in a brief paragraph.
4. In what ways might learning about the Milgram experiments change how you think? In what ways might learning about the experiments change how you act?
5. If you ended up in a position where you administered shocks to a series of “learners” day after day, what sort of attitude do you think you would develop towards them? How would you think about your own actions and the way that they reflected on you?
6. What light do these experiments shed on the following cases?
   1. The massacre at My Lai, in which American soldiers killed unarmed Vietnamese old men, women, and children, not because it was militarily necessary, but because they were ordered to do so.
   2. The Nazi holocaust, and the Nazi trials after the war, where Nazi officers gave as their excuse—or justification—that they were just following orders.
7. What implications does the behavior exhibited in Milgram’s experiments have for issues involving clear, independent reasoning?
8. What might help one become the sort of person who would resist the experimenter’s orders? (This is a question for each of us, but also a question about how you would want to raise your children).
9. In Milgram’s study, subjects would often continue when told, “the experiment requires that you continue,” or “you have no choice.” Why do you think this was effective? How do you think the subjects thought about such remarks?
10. When subjects in the Milgram experiment began to have doubts, the experimenter said that he would, “take the responsibility.” What role did this play in their actions? How do issues about responsibility affect our own actions?
11. Canned laughter is commonly used on TV sitcoms and other shows. Experiments have found that when the material is even a little funny, the use of a laugh track leads an audience to laugh longer and more often and to rate the material as funnier. Why could explain why people— most of whom profess to dislike canned laughter—laugh more when there is a laugh track? Do you think that they really perceive the material funnier?
12. Bartenders often “salt” their tip jars with a few dollar bills at the beginning of their shift to simulate tips left by previous customers. Why do you think they do this? Would you be more likely to leave a tip if they had? Give some other examples of this sort of phenomenon.
13. Wilbur and Wilma, both seventeen years old, are trying to negotiate a curfew with their parents.

Wilbur’s scenario: Wilbur asks his dad if he can stay out until 10 pm on a Tuesday night to go to a basketball game. His dad agrees. Wilbur comes home on time, and later that week he asks his dad if he can stay out until 1:00 am on Saturday night to go to a concert. His dad agrees.

Wilma’s scenario: Wilma asks her mom is she can stay out until 2:00 am on a Tuesday night to go to a basketball game. Her mom says, “No way!” Later that week, she asks her mom if she can stay out until 1:00 am on Saturday night to go to a concert. Her mom agrees.

What is going on in each scenario (the answers may be different in the two cases)?

14. In obedience and conformity experiments, it has been found repeatedly that the presence of even one dissenter (a person who refuses to comply) makes it easier for others to refuse compliance as well. Why is that? Defend your answer. You may find it useful to relate your answer to one or more of the experiments discussed in this chapter.
15. The habitual use of the device of social proof is not conducive to good reasoning. But can you think of some ways in which it might be used to promote good or healthy behavior? Explain your answer.
16. Do you think that the subjects who played the role of the teacher in the Milgram experiments were unusually sadistic or somehow worse than people in general? If not, why did they do what they did?
17. Give an example, either imaginary or from your own experience, of the door-in-the-face technique. Then give an example of the foot-in-thedoor technique. In each case, explain why you think the technique worked (if it did) or failed to work (if it failed).
18. Give an example, imaginary or real (it could be from your own life, but you don’t need to attribute it to yourself) where a person’s ways of thinking and reasoning (as opposed to just their behavior) are changed in the name of conformity.
19. Give an example, imaginary or real (it could be from your own life, but you don’t need to attribute it to yourself) where a person has inconsistent beliefs and engages in dissonance reduction to try to eliminate the dissonance or tension generated by the inconsistency.
20. Give three examples of legitimate authorities and cases where it would be reasonable to comply with their requests. Defend your answers in a brief paragraph.
21. Give an example where there would be pressure to comply with the request of an authority, but where it would not be a good thing to do so. Defend your answer in a brief paragraph.