Term Paper on "Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance, by Leon"

Term Paper 8 pages (2234 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Cognitive Consequences of Forced Compliance, by Leon Festinger and James M. Carlsmith (1957), (Lesko, pgs. 115-123). Write a brief review of the study, and be sure to answer the following questions: What was the hypothesis in the Festinger/Carlsmith experiment? Describe the experimental procedure in your own words. Compare and contrast the experimental procedure with the control group procedure.

What was the independent variable?

What was the dependent variable?

Was the hypothesis supported by the findings?

The experiment conducted by Festinger and Carlsmith to test cognitive dissonance, or the experience of stating an opinion that is contradictory to private beliefs is fascinating, and relatively inclusive. The work describes the manner of persuasion, that can be used to get the individual to change his internal opinion to one that better matches that which he had been persuaded to say publicly. The hypothesis of the work is twofold, "1. If a person if induces to do or say something that is contrary to private opinion, there will be a tendency for him to change his opinion so as to bring it into correspondence with what he has done or said and 2. The larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior (beyond the minimum needed to elicit it) the weaker will be the above-mentioned tendency." (Lesko, 2006, p. 122) the experimental procedure was relatively complicated, though low in resource needs. Each subject was asked to participate in an experiment as an aspect of a required subject time in an intro psych class, the task performed in the pseudo experiment was monotonous and boring. The control group was then asked a series of questions that were described as needed for the purpose of evaluating testing to make it better in the future. The test groups where then divided in two, one group was offered $1 to persuade a new subject that the experiment tasks were interesting and enjoyable, the other group was offered $20 to do the same thing and then both control groups were given the exit interview of the questions regarding the value of the experiment. The only contrasting element was the persuasion of the new test subject, and in the two control groups the amount of money offered for the task. The independent variable of this study is the persuasion of the new test subject that the experiment task is enjoyable. The dependant variable is the changed answer to the experiment evaluation. The experiment did support the hypothesis.

2. Write an essay in which you discuss some of the problems in the American justice system, from a social psychology perspective. Be sure to address the following areas: What are some of the problems with the court system's reliance on eyewitness testimony, according to memory researchers? Discuss jury deliberations, and the criticisms which have been raised with respect to jury trials. Apply current knowledge of social psychology with regards to persuasion tactics to the strategies of trial lawyers. Based on what you've learned in this course, if you were going to rearrange our court system, what changes would you make, and why?

In my opinion, and likely in many other peoples' the three greatest problems in the American justice system are extreme racial and economic disparity in incarceration and sentencing, relative lack of rehabilitation programs available in prisons and minimum mandatory sentencing which is driven by purely politically motivated social dynamics, as politicians are not successful if they are seen to be sot on crime, and is resulting in extreme increases in the number of people in prison and overcrowding.

Our society now spends more to detain, punish and incarcerate criminals than it does to educate its citizens. Furthermore, the United States has the highest proportion of its population incarcerated of any country in the world; at the same time, an African-American male in the U.S. is four times more likely to be incarcerated than a Black man in South Africa. (Parker, 2006, p. 479)

These problems are at the root of many other problems in the criminal justice system and are exacerbated by those discussed below, with regard to reliance on faulty forms of evidentiary process and emotive judicial systems. (Parker, 2006, p. 479)

It has been known for some time that eyewitness testimony is tremendously inaccurate, and yet it is still heavily relied upon as valid and even pinnacle evidence in criminal identification and trials.

In one study of 340 convictions, eyewitness error played a role in 64% of wrongful convictions. (16) in the first 180 DNA exoneration cases, eyewitness error was a cause of the wrongful conviction in 75% or more of the cases. (17) (Wise, Dauphinais & Safer, 2007, p. 807)

Memory researchers outside the criminal setting demonstrate that regardless of intent many individuals have a significant loss of memory at varied times during the process of time post any incident or occurrence and that this memory loss will then be filled in by extraneous information as an aspect of normal psychological development. This is why eyewitnesses frequently add or detract from characteristics of criminals at a significant rate and why eyewitness testimony should be only limitedly relied upon, especially in cases where eyewitnesses are expected to identify unknown individuals. Despite the awareness that eyewitness testimony is frequently flawed many individuals still cite it as one of the most persuasive aspects of testimony and juries rarely deliberate about it, assuming it to be correct. Jury deliberation, as well as the persuasive nature of trial lawyer tactics can also be seriously flawed, as the jury deliberation process is exceedingly emotional and laden with psychological facts that have little if anything to do with guilt or innocence but have much more to do with individual preconceived notions about crime, guilt and/or innocence and most importantly group dynamics. The system has also been aware of this flaw for a very long time, as this is why jury selection often takes so long and is filled with questions about jury individual experiences and intentions. Trail lawyers are also often reliant upon persuasive techniques that even further persuade juries in an emotive process. (Wise, Dauphinais & Safer, 2007, p. 807) if I were to alter the court system in the U.S. I would reduce emphasis on eyewitness testimony by eliminating cross examination, and rather allowing testimony to be given as evidence in recorded format, increase utilization of forensic evidence. I would also place significant caps on the earning potential of all attorneys or else make the prosecution (state) pay proportionate compensation to attorneys as the defense does as wealth and/or poverty has more to do with conviction and sentencing than almost any other factor.

3.Write an essay in which you identify the three types of relationships between infants and their mothers and address the following areas as well: Describe what researchers have found about the duration and quality of romantic relationships with securely attached individuals, anxious/ambivalent attached individuals, and avoidant attached individuals. What are your thoughts about the findings in the research about the connection between an infant's attachment with his/her mother and how this may impact an individual's future relationship with others?

The three commonly accepted forms of mother child attachment patterns are, secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment and avoidant attachment, though some also call for an additional classification of disorganized attachment (where the child shows signs of rotating between two or more of the patterns in response to the caregiver.) (Lyddon & Sherry, 2001, p. 405) According to researchers these attachment patterns have significant impact upon the duration and length of romantic relationships in adulthood. Later researchers have also found that individual infant attachment style roughly corresponds with adult romantic relationships in quality and duration, with those being more securely attached as infants being more flexible and trusting, which is more likely to create a long-term satisfying relationship than with those who must constantly challenge the trustworthiness of the partner as in anxious-ambivalent or in those who are likely to leave a relationship relatively quickly as avoidant attachment creates emotional barriers for both parties. (Simpson & Rholes, 1998, p. 10) as an adult, having been through several relationships and having been dissonantly attached to my caregivers as a result of infant illness it is clear to me that there is a demonstrative effect in relationships that is reflective of attachment style in infancy. It would be nice to dismiss some of this connectivity, as it is always nice to stress people's ability to change as they age and learn but this aspect may be a core principle from which many if not most later decisions about social situations are determined, and it is likely so subconscious extreme self-analysis would need to occur to change it or at the very least become aware of it.

4.Identify an important environmental impact upon health from a social psychology perspective. What theory or theories best explain this phenomenon? How do the theory or theories resolve or reduce the impact of this environmental factor upon health?

The perceived threat of environment changes that are… READ MORE

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