lOMoARcPSD|11700591
To what extent does the contemporary study change our understanding of the key theme
Responses to People in Authority
Milgram Bocchiaro
Milgram demonstrated people obey authority figures for a number of potential reasons even when they know that the task is causing someone else pain. Bocchiaro demonstrates similar results to Milgram as high levels of obedience were found. However, Bocchiaro also wanted to look at how personality influences obedience, disobedience and whistle-blowing. People don’t think they will obey requests from people in authority, but their behaviour suggests they will when situations are unfamiliar or novel. Because Bocchiaro was conducted in the Netherlands, it allows cultural comparison.
Responses to People in Need
Piliavin Levine
Levine et al demonstrates that different cultures in different countries change people’s responses to those in need. It shows that cultural practices can be embedded to improve helping behaviour. Gives Piliavin’s study context as it is cross cultural and gives evidence that people in NY are less helpful overall. No significance in gender. Also, it gives some information as to why people in New York are less helpful (e.g. their economic prosperity and the fact that they are not a simpatia country). It also showed what doesn’t make a difference to helping (e.g. pace of life).
Regions of the Brain
Sperry Casey
Casey adds to Sperry’s research by telling us about the role that other regions of the brain appear to play, such as the inferior frontal gyrus and the ventral striatum. It also suggests other ways to research regions of the brain by using an fMRI scanner. Sperry told us that certain areas of the brain had certain functions but now we know more specifically which parts of the brain have the function involved with delaying gratification and how it can affect a person’s ability to delay it or need to be instantly gratified.
Brain Plasticity
Blakemore and Cooper Maguire
Before, we only knew how cats’ brains adapted to their environment and how visual experiences in a kittens’ early life can modify their brains. It showed that the environment can determine perception at both a behavioural and psychological level. This shows plasticity. Maguire tells us how the human brain works and tells us about how the hippocampus works and how the amount of grey matter in the anterior or posterior changes depending on whether they were a taxi driver or not. It showed how the brain adapts for memory and spatial awareness. Both Blakemore & Cooper and Maguire tell us that brain plasticity occurs because of your surrounding environment.