Which experiment is associated with researching the impact of authority on obedience?

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Prepare for the UCF SYG2000 Introduction to Sociology Exam. Use flashcards and multiple choice questions with detailed explanations to enhance your understanding and increase your chances of success!

The Milgram Experiment is well-known for investigating the impact of authority on obedience. Conducted by psychologist Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s, the experiment aimed to understand how far individuals would go in obeying an authority figure, even when such obedience conflicted with their personal conscience.

In the experiment, participants were instructed to administer increasingly severe electric shocks to a "learner" (who was actually an actor and not receiving real shocks) when the learner made mistakes on a memory task. Milgram found that a significant number of participants complied with the authority figure's instructions, administering shocks even when the learner expressed pain and discomfort. This demonstrated how people could carry out actions that went against their moral beliefs when directed by someone they perceived to be in a position of authority.

This emphasis on authority and its influence on human behavior distinguishes the Milgram Experiment from the other studies mentioned, which focus on different aspects of social psychology, such as conformity and situational factors. The Stanford Prison Experiment, for example, explored the psychological effects of perceived power in a simulated prison setting, while the Asch Conformity Test demonstrated the influence of group pressure on individual responses. Carney's Experiment, while notable, does not primarily focus on authority and obedience in