confederate

(noun)

An actor who participates in a psychological experiment by pretending to be a subject while in actuality working for the researcher.

Related Terms

  • norm
  • obedience
  • deindividuation
  • authority
  • conformity

(noun)

Someone who is part of an experiment, but who pretends to be a participant in the study.

Related Terms

  • norm
  • obedience
  • deindividuation
  • authority
  • conformity

Examples of confederate in the following topics:

  • Conformity

    • These people were confederates, or individuals who were posing as other participants but were really working for the researchers.
    • The participant and confederates would be shown a series of cards that had a reference line and another card that had three comparison lines.
    • The participant and confederates were instructed to provide their answers out loud, and the confederates were told to sometimes unanimously provide a correct answer and sometimes an incorrect answer.
    • When Asch had the confederates all choose the same obviously incorrect answer, participants also chose the wrong line 37% of the time.
    • Public responses, those that were spoken in the presence of the confederates, were associated with higher levels of conformity than private, written responses.
  • Obedience

    • The experiments involved a "teacher" who conducted the experiment, a participant, and a confederate who pretended to be a volunteer.
    • A confederate is someone who is a part of the experiment, but who pretends to be a participant in the study.
    • At this point, many participants indicated their desire to stop the experiment and check on the confederate; however, most of them continued after being assured they would not be held responsible.
    • Most participants paused and questioned the experiment at some point, but 26 out of 40 still administered the full shock, even after the confederate ceased to respond.
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

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