Milgram (1963) baseline

• what was the aim of Milgram's baseline study?


  to investigate if someone would obey direct orders, even if they might harm another person
• sample of Milgram's baseline?


  40 American men, volunteer sample from Yale Unviversity
• Procedure of Milgram's Baseline study?

  • naive participant - teacher
  • confederate - learner
  • another confederate - experimenter (had a lab coat)
  • teacher had to test the ability of the learner in recalling word pairs, whilst the learner was in a different room
  • if the learner got the answer wrong they would be electrically shocked, and the voltage would increase each time (max 450V)
• how did Milgram deceive his participants?


  by advertising that his study was a memory test
• what can be concluded from Milgram's study?

  Participants are willing to obey orders even when they might harm a person. Milgram suspected that this was due to certain situational factors
• what were some results from Milgram's baseline experiment?


  overall obedience rate was 65%

  26 people delivered the (fake) fatal 450V shock to the learner,

  5 people stopped at the intense shock - 255-310V
• An evaluation of Milgram's Baseline study


  research support -> 'Le jeux de la mort', a French documentary

  • participants were paid to give fake shocks, ordered by TV presenter, to other participants who were actors in front of a studio audience
  • 80% of participants delivered the maximum shock of 460V
  • behaviour was almost identical to Milgram's study: nervous laughter, nail biting, sweating, anxiety
  • supports Milgram's original findings
  • has external validity, and shows reliability -> obedience is high to authority figures, irrespective of consequences
• evaluation of Milgram's baseline study

  limitation lack of internal vaildity -> may not have tested what was intended

  • Milgram reported that 75% of participants though that the shocks were real
  • Orne & Holland 1968 disagree, saying the participants believed it was set up and showed demand characteristics. Perry 2013 confirms this: only 50% thought shocks were real and 2/3 were disobedient.
  • demand characteristics reduce validity in the study, participants guessed the aim
• 3rd eval of Milgram's baseline


  counterpoint to lack of validity -> Sheridan & King conducted a study similar to Milgram's:

  • giving what they thought were real shocks to a puppy
  • 54% of men and 100% of women gave 'fatal' shocks to the puppy

  suggests that there are similar findings and effects of obedience, therefore increases credibility - argument of authority has a stong affect on obedience
• 4th eval of Milgram's baseline


  alternative interpretation: Social Identity Theory

  Haslam et al 2014 - participants didn't identify with the aim of the study after the 4th prod so they refused to go on. they wouldn't blindly obey authority
• 5th eval of milgram's baseline


  ethical issues: deception

  • fixed roles
  • advertised as a memory test
  • shows were fake

  all of these issues were dealt with in the debrief, however, Baumrind criticised milgram as deception can have psychological consequences
• 6th eval of migrams baseline study


  • androcentric study sample = all male
  • also were all same age, small sample, same culture, same social-ecnoic status