Effect of Confederates on Compliance A study was conducted to see whether participants would ignore a sign that said, "Elevator may stick between floors. Use the stairs."

The study was done at a university dorm on the ground floor of a three-level building. Those who used the stairs were said to be compliant, and those who used the elevator were said to be noncompliant. There were three possible situations, two of which involved confederates.

A confederate is a person who is secretly working with the experimenter. In the first situation, there was no confederate. In the second situation, there was a compliant confederate (one who used the stairs), and in the third situation, there was a noncompliant confederate (one who used the elevator).

The subjects tended to imitate the confederates. What more do you need to know about the study to determine whether the presence or absence of a confederate causes a change in the compliance of subjects?

(Source: Wogalter, et al., (1987), reported in Shaffer & Merrens (2001), Research Stories in Introductory Psychology, Allyn and Bacon: Boston.)