Evaluation of Gibson’s contribution to Milgram’s research findings on obedience

Evaluation of Gibson’s contribution to Milgram’s research findings on obedience Order Description Critically evaluate Gibson’s contribution to the interpretation of Milgram’s research findings on obedience. What can this tell us about the importance of context for studying social influence? - Social Psychology Module DD307 - TMA05 - THE OPEN UNIVERSITY DD307-14J Social psychology: critical perspectives on self and others TMA 05 2 of 5 Tuesday 30 September 2014 Contents The assignment 4 The assignment 4 of 5 Tuesday 30 September 2014 the chapter. For example, the concluding remarks in Gibson’s analysis (Reading 7.2) may be useful to help assess its contribution, as will the conclusion to the chapter. You should also draw on earlier parts of the chapter to provide some support for a balanced discussion of this contribution. For example, Dixon (chapter author), in the commentary on Milgram’ reading, refers to studies which provide some support for Milgram’s findings on obedience, and this support could be useful in developing a balanced discussion about the ‘experimental realism’ of Milgram’s approach. Remember that if you are drawing on material from throughout the chapter, keep it relevant to the actual question: the critical evaluation of Gibson’s rhetorical analysis. It will be useful to consider the wider theoretical positions of the two perspectives which underpin Gibson’s and Milgram’s approach, in order to develop ideas about the advantages and disadvantages of a discursive psychology approach to obedience, as it is used in rhetorical analysis. Therefore you are encouraged to consult Book 1, Chapters 2 and 3 for background on both the discursive and the cognitive social perspectives, and also Book 2, Chapter 4 which discusses a discursive approach to attitudes and may help to provide some theoretical and methodological points of understanding of this approach. The second task for the essay asks you to consider the idea of context. Context can refer to the experimental context of the research itself (see Book 1, Chapter 3, Section 4.1), and it can also mean the wider context of research in relation to this topic, i.e., the historical context of experimental and discursive research, and what we can understand about social influence by taking this into consideration. In terms of the experimental context, Gibson discusses how a rhetorical analysis can highlight what happens in the actual context of the experiment for particular participants, so you could consider how Gibson’s rhetorical analysis concentrates on interactions within the experiment and the implications of this analysis. Gibson’s analysis not only challenges Milgram’s interpretations of obedience from the experiments, but also questions Milgram’s reliance on the experimental method as the chief method of understanding social influence. Therefore the answer to this question could include discussion of the relevance of the ‘methodological framework’ (Dixon, 2012, p. 166) Milgram used and its link to the interpretations he was able to draw from the experiments. There is also the wider historical context of the research, and the assumptions available about the appropriate way to research obedience at the time Milgram conducted the experiments. The interrogative theme of ‘situated knowledges’ could be useful here (Book 1, Chapter 2), and Hollway’s point that ‘…methods are highly influential in the knowledges that are produced.’ (p. 49) is one which you could develop in the context of how both methods shape the interpretations possible. You may also like to consider how Gibson’s analysis promotes particular interpretations of the power relations in the experiment, and the question of agency-structure too. Here Book 1, Chapter 3, Section 4.1 could be a useful source. So an appropriate question to consider may be to ask how power and agency interpreted from the rhetorical analysis help us understand the importance of context for studying social influence. Credit will be given where you have used interrogative themes to develop your answer in a relevant and focused way. Student notes 5 of 5 Tuesday 30 September 2014