AP Psychology Page 1 of 2

Exam: FreeResponse Questions

Scoring: 10 points total.
Time: You have 25 minutes to complete this part of the test.
Directions:  Write a wellorganized essay for each of the questions
below.
 Neatly write your responses on the answer sheets
provided (print out additional sheets if needed), or you
may wordprocess your document.
 Use a blue or black pen.
 Don't write in the margins.
 Remember to complete the submission information on
every page you turn in.

1. People wonder how U.S. soldiers could mistreat prisoners so badly at Abu Ghraib, or how
Nazi soldiers could systematically kill so many Jews and others during WWII. Using any three
of the following concepts and research, describe how the concept or research finding could
be applied to one of the situations listed above:
 Milgram’s research
 Zimbardo prison experiment
 Footinthedoor phenomenon
 Bystander effect
 In group/outgroup
 Normative social influence

- Milgram’s research

One of Milgram's most famous research is the electric shock experiment, which focuses on
the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. In this experiment, the test
subjects believed that they were harming another person with electric shocks. However, every
one of them continued to administer the shocks when the experimenter told them that they had to
keep going. Regarding that, Milgram concluded that obedience to authority is deeply ingrained in
consciousness, and subordinates will still follow orders even if they still consciously disagree with
the action. In other words, he found out that people would follow any orders given by authority
figures, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being. Moreover, applying this theory to
the Nazi soldiers who systematically killed many Jews and others during WWII situations, we can
conclude that those Nazi soldiers weren't evil, they were just regular humans that displayed
obedience. Therefore, even though the Nazi soldiers committed the atrocities, ultimately the
blame for the actions rests on the one who gave them the orders to do so.
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- Zimbardo prison experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was conducted by Philip Zimbardo in 1971. The purpose of
the experiment was to determine whether the brutal behavior of prison guards was due to the
sadism of the guards or was more related to the prison environment. In addition, the theory was
able to determine the behavior of people when provided with a legitimate ideology and social
institutional support. In this experiment, guards were instructed to do whatever they thought was
necessary to maintain the law and to command the respect of the prisoners. With regard to that,
that was the way how guards gained legal ideological, and social system support. A few days
later, due to the emotional breakdown of the prisoners and excessive attacks by the guards, the
experiment was over. On the other hand, the research has found that people are more likely to
obey authority, people, or institution that shows them a legitimate ideology. Using this idea to the
Nazi soldiers killing Jews during WWII case, the Nazis, therefore, committed the murders
because they had the likes of Adolf Hitler who supported them and brought forth an ideology that
was meant to restore the lost glory of the Germans. Consequently, the Nazis obeyed the
authority because there is power in authority especially in a case where there is the support of an
institution. 

- Normative social influence

Normative Social Influence is where a person conforms in order to be accepted and belong to
a group. Normally, people do this because it is socially rewarding or to avoid social rejection.
However, this involves the act of conforming to a group’s values, behaviors, rules, and choices.
Moreover, using this to explain the murder of the Nazis, we can conclude that some of the Nazis
who murdered the Jews and other people committed the act, not because they had the will to do
so, but because they wanted to fit in that group of the Nazi’s. In addition, the research on
Normative social influence has recognized that one can be influenced to take a certain action
such as murdering someone so as he or she can be accepted in a certain group. Therefore,
wanting to join the group may be one of the reasons why the Nazis were willing to kill so many
Jews and other people even if they did not approve of this action.