You want to test a patient for automatic obedience. Before revealing the answer, decide how you would go about it.

Give the patient a series of simple verbal instructions, including at least one that is mildly uncomfortable or undignified, such as asking them to hold an awkward position, and observe whether they comply indiscriminately. The key test is what happens next: continue giving further instructions afterward and watch specifically for whether the patient's behaviour adjusts in response to the unpleasant experience they just had, or whether compliance continues unchanged regardless — this failure to adjust despite direct, repeated unpleasant consequence is the striking and specific feature that marks automatic obedience out from ordinary cooperativeness. As with any test involving instructions that may cause discomfort, this should be conducted with appropriate clinical judgement and sensitivity.