Milgram

• The aim of the study was to investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person
• it is a controlled observational study
• the study collected both quantitative data - in the amount of volts given - and qualitative data - observed the participants emotional responses and interviewed them after the study
• the participants were 40 males aged between 20 - 50 from the new haven area
• Obtained by responding to newspaper advertisement asking for volunteers - self selected sampling
• they were paid 4.50 for their participation and simply arriving
• he created a fake shock generator, to had 30 switches and went up in 15, some had labels, example - danger severe shock
• took place in a smart psychology laboratory in Yale university
• experimenter played by a stern and emotionless man wearing a technicians coat
• the learner was played by mr Wallace who was observed to be likeable
• cover story used said study is finding out the effect different people have on each other as teachers and learners and what effect punishment will have in this scenario
• They were asked to draw a paper to see which role they would play but it was rigged.
• the learner was strapped into the electric chair and to enhance authenticity, the teacher was given a sample shock
• learner asked to memorise word pairs, teacher then had to test the learner by reading one word, along with 4 others, the learner had to indicate which one of the 4 words it was paired with.
• If the answer was incorrect, they had to tell the learner the correct answer and the level of punishment they would give them
• in all conditions, the learner gave predetermined set of responses
• at 300 volts, mr wallace pounded on the wall , after several bangs and complaining about his heart condition, all banging ceased, the learners answers also stopped appearing
• They were instructed to take the absence as a wrong answer and continue shocking them.
• There were 4 prods

  Please continue

  The experiment requires that you continue

  It is absolutely essential that you continue

  You have no other choice, you must go on
• Experiment ends when the 450 volt has been administered or the participant walked out
• A participant who broke off prior to the 450 volts was called disobedient
• They were thoroughly debriefed and reunited with Mr Wallace, also explained their behaviour was normal
• 100% of participants obeyed up to 300 volts
• 14 participants classed as defiant, 26 were obedient
• Many participants showed signs of nervousness. for example - sweating, trembling, biting their lips
• 14 out of 40 had nervous laughing fits, 3 had full blown uncontrollable seizures.
• They often went out of their way to point out they weren't the sadistic type
• qualitative data:

  I'm sorry i can't do that to a man, ill hurt his heart

  Oh i can't go on with this

  You take your money
• Agentic shift could explain such high levels of obedience
• When the experiment took place in a seedy run down block, the obedience was 47.5%
• strengths of the experiment

  • high amounts of control
  • high validity as they genuinely believed the situation was real
  • collects both quantitative and qualitative data
• weaknesses of the experiment

  • ethical concerns