Posted: September 13th, 2017

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