Procedure

• what was the aim?

  To investigate whether ordinary American citizens would obey an unjust order from an authority figure
• what’s an authority figure?

  someone who has power or influence over others and can affect the behaviour of those they lead
• what was the sample?

  • 40 male American participants
  • volunteers responded to an advert in a local paper
  • invited to a lab at Yale university
• what were the confederates?

  the experimenter and learner (mr Wallace)
• what was the real participant always?

  teacher
• what would the teacher do to the learner?

  Read the learner a series of word pairs and then test their recall
• How would learner communicate with the teacher?

  Through a light system
• what was the teacher instructed to do?

  • administer an electric shock every time learner made a mistake
  • Increase the voltage after each mistake
• what was put in order so that the teacher believed the shocks were real?

  • teacher given sample shock
  • as voltage increased, the learners screams became louder and more dramatic
• what did the learner do at 180V?

  complained about weak heart
• what did learner do at 300v?

  demanded to leave
• what did learner do at 315v?

  became silent to give the illusion that he is unconscious
• what were the experimenters’ prods?

  • please continue
  • the experiment requires you to continue
  • it is absolutely essential that you continue
  • you have no other choice but to continue
• how many participants went to at least 300v?

  all of them
• how many participants continued at 450v?

  65%
• what was the conclusion?

  ordinary people are capable of obeying unjust orders