Milgram

• What did Milgram conduct


  Investigation of obedience where he wanted to know if ordinary American citizen would obey an unjust order from an authority figure and inflict pain on another person because they're instructed too
• What was his samples

  40 male participants from range of occupations and backgrounds

  Were all volunteers who responded to an advert in local paper offering $4.50 to take part in experiment on “punishment and learning”
• What was the role of the real participant in the experiment?

  The real participant was always assigned the role of teacher.
• What task did the teacher perform in the experiment?


  The teacher read a series of word pairs and tested recall.
• How did the learner indicate their choice during the experiment?


  The learner indicated their choice using a system of lights.
• What was the consequence for the learner every time a mistake was made?

  The teacher had to give an electric shock every time a mistake was made.
• How did the voltage change during the experiment?


  The voltage was increased after each mistake made by the learner.
• What was the purpose of strapping the learner onto an electric chair?


  It was to convince the teacher that the procedure was real.
• Were the learners actually strapped onto the electric chair?


  No, the learner wasn't actually strapped on.
• How did the learner respond to the electric shocks during the experiment?


  The learner gave predetermined answers and screamed as electric shocks increased.
• What happened at 180 volts during the experiment?


  The learner complained of a weak heart.
• What did the learner do at 300 volts?


  The learner banged on the wall to demand to leave.
• What was the learner's response at 315 volts?


  The learner became silent, creating the illusion of being unconscious or dead.
• Results


  Went to at least 300 volts and 65% continued to full 450 volts
• Conclusions


  under the right circumstances, ordinary people will obey unjust orders.
• Reliable evaluation


  Milgram research replicated - documentary about reality TV in France in 2010 included a replication of study involving participants believing they're contestants for new game show involving electric shocks. shocks fake and other participants actors. naive participants thought it was real 80% delivered max 460 volt shock to unconscious men demonstrating finding reliable
• Some ecological validity

  His environment accurately reflects wider authority relationships in real life.

  Holfing et al studied nurses on hospital ward and found levels of obedience to unjustified demands by doctors were high. process of obedience to authority seen in milgrab lab study can be generalised to real life situations and has some ecological validoty.
• Low internal validity

  Orne and Holland argue that participants had guessed that the shocks were not real and perry listened back to the tape recordings of milgrams participants found many expressed their doubts about the shock.

  study won't accurately reflect obedience to authority.

  sheridan and king found 54% of male participants and 100% female would give real shock to puppy and 70% milgram participants reported they thought that shocks were real.
• Findings not a reuslt of obedience through authority


  Social identity theory suggests that 3 of the instructions given made participants identify with experiementer and science of study. haslam and richer found obedience fell because partipant started to identify with victim
• What was the primary aim of Milgram's study?


  To investigate how far people would go in obeying an authority figure's instructions.
• What were the key elements of Milgram's experimental design?


  • Participants: Male volunteers
  • Setup: Study on learning and memory
  • Roles: Teacher (participant), Learner (actor), Experimenter (authority figure)
  • Procedure: Teacher asked questions and administered shocks for wrong answers
  • Conflict: Experimenter urged continuation despite learner's distress
• What was the maximum shock level participants were instructed to administer in Milgram's experiment?

  450 volts
• What percentage of participants continued to the highest level of shock in Milgram's study?

  65%
• What signs did many participants show during Milgram's experiment?

  Extreme stress and discomfort
• How did the presence of an authority figure affect obedience in Milgram's study?

  It greatly increased compliance among participants.
• What ethical concerns were raised by Milgram's study?


  • Deception about the true nature of the experiment
  • Psychological distress experienced by participants
  • Lack of informed consent due to deception
  • Potential long-term psychological effects
  • Questions about the right to withdraw