Understanding Psychology (10th Ed)

FIGURE 2 
This fearsome “shock generator” led participants to believe they were administering 
electric shocks to another person, who was connected to the generator by electrodes that 
were attached to the skin. 
(Source: Copyright 1965 by Stanley Milgram. From the fi lm 
Obedience
, 
distributed by the New York University Film Library and Pennsylvania State University, PCR.)
Study Alert
Because of its graphic 
demonstration of obedience 
to authority, the Milgram 
experiment is one of the 
most famous and infl uential 
studies in social psychology.
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R E C A P / E V A L U A T E / R E T H I N K
K E Y T E R M S 
R E C A P 
What are the major sources and tactics of social infl uence?
• Social infl uence is the area of social psychology con-
cerned with situations in which the actions of an individ-
ual or group affect the behavior of others. (p. 590)
• Conformity refers to changes in behavior or attitudes 
that result from a desire to follow the beliefs or standards 
of others. (p. 590)
• Compliance is behavior that results from direct social 
pressure. Among the ways of eliciting compliance are the 
foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face, that’s-not-all, and not-
so-free-sample techniques. (p. 593)
• Obedience is a change in behavior in response to the 
commands of others. (p. 595)
E VA LU AT E
1. A 
, or person who agrees with the 
dissenting viewpoint, is likely to reduce conformity.
2.
Who pioneered the study of conformity?