Core Studies: Social Area

What Core Studies: Social Area covers

Core Studies: Social Area is examined on component 02 of OCR Psychology, Psychological themes through core studies. 182 recall questions across 17 subtopics.

The 17 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Milgram (1963) obedience: background, sample and apparatusRecall questions on the background and aim of Milgram's 1963 obedience study, its setting and research method, how participants were recruited and paid, the shock generator, the rigged draw, the learner and experimenter, and the learning task.Open →
• Milgram (1963) obedience: procedure, results and conclusionsRecall questions on Milgram's procedure, including the pre-recorded learner, events at 300 V and the four prods, the numbers who reached 300 V and 450 V, signs of tension, predictions versus results, and Milgram's conclusions.Open →
• Milgram (1963) obedience: evaluation and applicationsRecall questions on the evaluation of Milgram's obedience study, including methodological strengths, ecological validity and realism, ethical problems and Milgram's response, sample limitations, quantitative data, individual and situational explanations, and practical uses.Open →
• Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: background and sampleRecall questions on the background and aims of Bocchiaro et al.'s 2012 study of disobedience and whistle-blowing, the definition of whistle-blowing, its setting, sample, recruitment, exclusions and comparison group.Open →
• Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: procedure, results and conclusionsRecall questions on Bocchiaro et al.'s procedure, including the cover story, unethical request and whistle-blowing opportunity, the rates of obedience, disobedience and whistle-blowing, the comparison group's predictions, personality findings and conclusions.Open →
• Bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: evaluation and applicationsRecall questions on the evaluation of Bocchiaro et al.'s study, including the absent experimenter, methodological strengths, ethical problems and safeguards, sample and exclusions, type of data, ecological validity and practical applications.Open →
• Responses to people in authority: similarities and differences between Milgram and Bocchiaro et al.Recall questions on the key theme of responses to people in authority, and the similarities and differences between Milgram and Bocchiaro et al. in aims, methods, samples, ethics, harm, response measures, pressure applied and obedience rates.Open →
• Responses to people in authority: what Bocchiaro et al. add to MilgramRecall questions on how far Bocchiaro et al. change understanding of responses to authority, what they measured that Milgram did not, confirming and extending the situational explanation, predictions about others, and cultural, individual and social diversity.Open →
• Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: background, design and methodRecall questions on the background and aims of Piliavin et al.'s 1969 subway Samaritan study, diffusion of responsibility, its field experiment method, independent measures design, and its independent and dependent variables.Open →
• Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: sample, materials and procedureRecall questions on the participants in Piliavin et al.'s study, the setting on the New York subway, how the drunk and ill victims were presented, the roles of the four team members, and when the model intervened.Open →
• Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: results and findingsRecall questions on Piliavin et al.'s results on helping the cane and drunk victims, speed of help, sex and race of helpers, group size, passengers leaving the critical area, the model conditions, and passengers' comments.Open →
• Piliavin et al. (1969) subway Samaritans: conclusions, the cost-reward model and evaluationRecall questions on Piliavin et al.'s arousal: cost-reward model and how it explains helping the drunk victim, and the evaluation of the field setting, method, ethics, sample, observer reliability and balance of conditions.Open →
• Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: background, sample and materialsRecall questions on the background of Levine et al.'s 2001 cross-cultural study of helping, explanations for cultural differences, simpatía, the quasi-experimental method, the sample and how the dropped pen and hurt leg situations were staged.Open →
• Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: procedure and resultsRecall questions on Levine et al.'s helping measures for the hurt leg and blind pedestrian situations, overall helping scores, the most and least helpful cities, and findings on simpatía, economic prosperity, population, individualism and pace of life.Open →
• Levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: conclusions and evaluationRecall questions on Levine et al.'s conclusions and the evaluation of their field measures, cross-cultural design, standardisation across countries, ethnocentrism, one city per country, ethical issues, correlational findings and type of data.Open →
• Responses to people in need: similarities and differences between Piliavin et al. and Levine et al.Recall questions on the key theme of responses to people in need, and the similarities and differences between Piliavin et al. and Levine et al. in aims, methods, ethics, data, situations, variables, scope, measures and explanations of helping.Open →
• Responses to people in need: what Levine et al. add to Piliavin et al.Recall questions on how far Levine et al. change understanding of responses to people in need, cost-reward as cultural, correcting bias in bystander research, what Piliavin still explains, diversity, and findings on the sex of helpers.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Core Studies: Social Area further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• Diffusion of responsibility vs Simpatía

  Diffusion of responsibility: the reduced sense of personal obligation to act when other bystanders are present. Simpatía: a cultural value emphasising social harmony, politeness and concern for others' feelings.

• Milgram (1963) vs Bocchiaro et al. (2012)

  Milgram (1963): the study in which men were ordered to give what they believed were increasing electric shocks. Bocchiaro et al. (2012): the study in which participants could obey, disobey or blow the whistle on a harmful proposal.

• Piliavin et al. (1969) vs Levine et al. (2001)

  Piliavin et al. (1969): the field study of helping a collapsed victim on a New York subway train. Levine et al. (2001): the cross-cultural field study comparing helping rates in cities around the world.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   What historical question prompted Milgram's 1963 study of obedience?

   Model answer

   He wanted to understand how the atrocities of the Holocaust could have been carried out by ordinary people simply following orders.

2. 2

   What was the 'Germans are different' hypothesis that Milgram set out to test against?

   Model answer

   The claim that Germans possess a particular character defect making them unusually willing to obey destructive orders, so that the Holocaust could not have happened elsewhere.

3. 3

   State the aim of Milgram's obedience study.

   Model answer

   To measure how far ordinary people would obey an authority figure who instructed them to give increasingly severe electric shocks to another person against their own conscience.

4. 4

   Where was Milgram's study carried out, and why did the setting matter?

   Model answer

   It was run in a laboratory at Yale University, and the prestige of the institution added to the perceived legitimacy of the experimenter.

5. 5

   Why is Milgram's baseline study best described as a controlled observation rather than an experiment?

   Model answer

   There was no independent variable — all forty participants went through exactly the same standardised procedure, and their obedience was simply observed and recorded.

6. 6

   Who took part in Milgram's study?

   Model answer

   Forty American men aged between 20 and 50, drawn from New Haven and the surrounding area, with a wide range of occupations from unskilled workers to professionals.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Core Studies: Social Area revision questions

What does Core Studies: Social Area cover in OCR A-Level Psychology?

17 subtopics: milgram (1963) obedience: background, sample and apparatus, milgram (1963) obedience: procedure, results and conclusions, milgram (1963) obedience: evaluation and applications, bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: background and sample, bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: procedure, results and conclusions, bocchiaro et al. (2012) disobedience and whistle-blowing: evaluation and applications, responses to people in authority: similarities and differences between milgram and bocchiaro et al., responses to people in authority: what bocchiaro et al. add to milgram, piliavin et al. (1969) subway samaritans: background, design and method, piliavin et al. (1969) subway samaritans: sample, materials and procedure, piliavin et al. (1969) subway samaritans: results and findings, piliavin et al. (1969) subway samaritans: conclusions, the cost-reward model and evaluation, levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: background, sample and materials, levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: procedure and results, levine et al. (2001) cross-cultural altruism: conclusions and evaluation, responses to people in need: similarities and differences between piliavin et al. and levine et al. and responses to people in need: what levine et al. add to piliavin et al.. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Core Studies: Social Area organised?

By the OCR H567 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.