the social psychology experiments were a series of experiments for example there was one experiment that had smoke seeping under a door with a person on the side of the door with the smoke coming through and he was sitting at a desk taking a test and he saw the smoke and went and got help. When this same exact setting came into place again just with three people the experiment was to find out if you are more likely to run and get help if you are alone or with other people and when the was more than one person in the room know one did anything because if one person keeps there cool everyone else will and visa versa. Another experiment was there was a box with different voltages on it and the voltages went all the way up to 400, there would be a person in a different room hooked up to this box and a person in the next room controlling the box what would happen in the psychologist would ask a question and if the person controlling the box got it wrong he would click the voltage lever and it would go up by 10 volts and every question wrong he would go up, the thing about this experiment is that the guy in the next room was actually a recording and the recording would make sound effect that a real man would make when shocked with these voltages for example at one point it would scream and the person controlling it would want to stop but would not because a man telling him to do it was in a uniform and thats what people grew up to obey is people in uniforms.
This could be the case for people who lived in Nazi Germany. It seems to be that since people grow up to obey those who are in uniform, it was highly influenced when Hitler was the leader. The more the power, the more they people will obey that person. With Hitler in his prime, his power was unsurpassed and he had everyone obey him, seeing him as a god. My question is, if these people walked by us on the street in casual clothes and not all groomed, could we spot them? What makes us believe they are stronger and smarter than us, besides their title? Is it their uniform?
ReplyDeleteI think that it is entirely the uniform. It is not that we think that they are smarter or stronger, I think it is a matter of the fact that we think there will be consequences if we disobey and authority figure. As children we know that if we disobey someone who is of authority we will be punished, so I think that this carries over into our adult lives.
Deleteyes, I definitely believe it is the uniform for example Leonard Bickman, a psychologist and professor and Vanderbilt University, did extensive experiments on the effectiveness of uniforms and published his findings in “The Social Power of a Uniform.” In one experiment, Bickman had three male researchers give orders to 153 randomly chosen pedestrians in Brooklyn, New York. The researcher would demand one of the following:
ReplyDelete"pick up this bag for me!"
"this fellow if overparked at the meter but doesn't have any change. Give him a dime."
"dont you know you have to stand on the other side of the pole? The sign says, no standing."
The experimenters wore either a sports coat and tie, a milk carrier’s uniform, or a guard’s uniform that closely resembled a police officer’s uniform. Unsurprisingly, the guard’s uniform proved to be the most successful. A full 82 percent of subjects picked up the trash when the guard asked them to do it, compared to 64 percent when asked by the milkman and 36 percent when asked by the civilian. Similarly, 89 percent of subjects donated pocket change at the guard’s request, but only 33 percent of subjects complied with the civilian.
"LEAD Apparel." Lead Apparel Blog RSS. Adam Marks, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 May 2014.
I think that this just further proves the fact that people are taught from a young age to listen to those who have authority. This could be an issue considering anyone can dress up in a uniform and pretend to be someone they aren't and ask you to do something.
DeleteYou can also tie the things that happened in Nazi Germany to the experiment that happened in Palo Alto some years back. A teacher did an experiment on how the kids would adapt to being put in a Nazi based environment by doing things like making up a class chant, organizing rallies, and making the students greet him with a salute at the beginning of class. After just a few weeks the students had taken it to a whole new level, creating a symbol for their group and exiling people who they didn't deem worthy of being in it. This is a reflection of what happened in Germany with the Nazis. People naturally feel drawn to be a part of something big, and back in the 1940's the Germans felt drawn to Hitler and his power. This was a big reason why so many people were involved in the Holocaust, they got sucked into it and after a while didn't even notice or think what they were doing was wrong.
ReplyDeleteFrom these experiments we can conclude that if one is alone and needs help he or she goes to find help, but if you are accompanied things change. The example of the men taking a survey in a room where smoke emerged from the door demonstrates that if there is a group of people with you and something bad or strange happens, no one panics does nothing. So if others don't panic you don't ,therefore this is called group behavior.
ReplyDeleteWould you say that everyone is going to succumb to the group behavior trait? Or do you think that there might be one person occasionally who will question something out of the ordinary, or go against what everyone else is doing?
DeleteMaybe if one person obeys, the other will obey. I believe we adapt to our surroundings, and they more time a group spends together, the more alike the group members will act.
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