Ethical Implications of the Milgram Experiment

Which of the following best describes the role of a confederate in a psychological experiment?

In psychological research that manipulates social environments, different individuals fulfill specific roles. Match each role with the description that best explains its function in the research design.

Suppose a researcher is conducting a study on social pressure and hires an actor to pose as a fellow student volunteer who gives intentionally incorrect responses during a task. This actor, who is secretly working for the researcher while appearing to be a genuine participant, is serving as a(n) ________.

Suppose a researcher uses a confederate to simulate a person in need of help. If the confederate unintentionally acts more distressed when female participants are present than when male participants are present, the researcher can no longer definitively conclude that the participants' responses were driven solely by the intended manipulation of 'need for help'.

To evaluate the methodological integrity of a research design that uses a confederate to manipulate social pressure, a researcher must perform a series of critical quality checks. Arrange the following steps in the correct logical order to ensure the experiment provides a sound basis for scientific claims.

A researcher wants to investigate whether bystanders are more likely to help a stranger who drops a heavy bag of groceries when a second bystander has already stepped forward to assist. The researcher needs to design a study in which genuine participants believe they are in a naturalistic social situation alongside other uninformed volunteers.

Which of the following research designs best accomplishes this goal by correctly incorporating a confederate?

In a psychological experiment, a confederate is a genuine participant who is completely uninformed about the study's true purpose.

Asch Conformity Experiment

In psychological research, what is the role of a confederate?

During a psychological experiment, both the naïve participants and the confederates are kept completely unaware of the study's true purpose until the debriefing session.

Dr. Aris is conducting an experimental study on social influence in group settings. During the session:

• Liam, an introductory psychology student, signed up for the study, has no idea about the hypothesis, and believes he is collaborating with other regular students.
• Marcus is hired by Dr. Aris to pretend to be a student and deliberately disagree with group consensus during the task.
• Dr. Aris observes the session behind a one-way mirror to record Liam's behavior.

Match each individual in this study with their correct methodological role.

A social psychologist is designing an experiment to study the bystander effect. The design requires a single naïve participant and two confederates to be placed in a room where a simulated emergency occurs. Arrange the steps of the experimental procedure in the correct chronological order to show how the confederates' standardized behavior is sequenced to manipulate the social situation and measure the participant's reaction without raising suspicion.

In psychological research, a confederate is an individual who is aware of the experiment's true purpose and works for the researcher to manipulate the social situation.

Why is it methodologically essential that a naive participant believes a confederate is simply another uninformed subject in a social psychology experiment?

Dr. Aris is conducting an experiment on the bystander effect. A participant is asked to fill out a questionnaire in a room when smoke begins to pour from a heating vent. Another person in the room, who is secretly working for Dr. Aris, is instructed to ignore the smoke and calmly continue working. In this experimental setup, the person who is secretly working for the researcher to manipulate the social environment is acting as a(n) _____.

During a peer review, a psychologist evaluates a social conformity study and argues that the findings are invalid due to demand characteristics. The psychologist critiques the design because the naive participants easily guessed that the other person in the room was not a genuine subject. To resolve this methodological critique and restore internal validity, the researcher must improve the believability of the _____ so that naive participants genuinely believe they are interacting with a fellow, uninformed peer.

Define the term "confederate" as it is used in psychological research. In your explanation, contrast the role and knowledge of a confederate with those of a naïve participant.

Diagnose why using a confederate in this role was essential to the design of the experiment, and justify why the research findings would be invalid if the naïve participant discovered the confederate's true role.

Suppose you are designing a study on group influence inspired by the 'Asch Conformity Experiment' follow-up. Explain how you would apply the concept of a confederate by describing a setup with two confederates and one naïve participant to measure social conformity.