Perceptions of Authority

Perceptions of Authority




In 1966 Hofling conducted an experiment whereby a fake drug was planted in the medicine cabinet of a hospital. The maximum dosage of the drug was clearly marked on the bottle. A confederate, acting as a doctor, gave a telephone instruction to a nurse to administer an exceeded dose of the drug to a patient. The nurse, without further discussion did this. When later questioned the nurse admitted her reservations but also her reluctance to question the request, as this was not acceptable by doctors.
Another experiment conducted was by Zimbardo in 1973 whereby a group
of volunteers were selected to take part in a psychological study of prison life. The subjects were given either roles as prisoners or prison guards. Although 2 weeks study was intended for the experiment, it was stopped within days due to the extreme behavior changes in both groups. It seemed that the roles of each became too realis...