What is the name of this technique?

Question

I recall hearing about a technique used in gatherings to cause unequivocal support for the position a speaker presents. It goes something like this:

A speaker is talking about something controversial. There are a few people in the audience he knows will cause problems so he stations five or six normal-looking men and women within the audience at ready. These people are instructed to seem sympathetic but firm, dismissing anything contrary to what the speaker presents. They attempt to make the dissenter angry so that his position looks stupid and the speaker becomes a martyr. Tthe "belligerent" is taken out by guards and the speaker seems like a victim. Meanwhile, the two or three people that stood up (the plants, in fact) to counter the dissident's arguments spread talk among the crowd to the effect that "all people who hold that position are like that."

Effectively, any dissension is shut down and the speaker can get away with saying whatever he wants lest someone stand up again.

This technique is a valid technique (usually discussed in a psychological context) used extensively in politics. I heard of it in passing years ago and now I am severely interested in learning the name.

I seem to recall it not relating to a proper name, but rather a Greek letter or event perhaps?

It's not the crowd itself but the method; complex helix does not ring a bell. And, alas, you're right; I think this belongs more in sociology than psychology.

Answer 1

Perhaps it is a sociological term your looking for, rather than psychological....because you are not dealing with an individual, but with an entire crowd. Is it a "complex helix"?

Answer 2

Sound like the George w. Bush technique to me