Milgram's A01

• Milgram's Shock Experiment

  Psychological experiment conducted at Yale University
• Participant Characteristics

  40 male participants aged 20-50 with various jobs
• Compensation

  Participants were offered $4.50 for their participation
• Experimental Location

  Milgram's lab at the University of Yale
• Experimental Setup

  Participants were assigned the roles of teacher and learner even though the assignments were rigged
• Confederates

  Mr. Wallace (learner) and experimenter in a grey lab coat
• Participant Freedom

  Participants were allowed to leave the experiment at any time
• Learner's Condition

  Learner was strapped to a chair with electrodes
• Task

  Participants were required to match word pairs
• Shock Levels

  Shocks ranged from 'slight shock' (15) to 'danger severe shock' (450v)
• Prods

  Experimenter provided 4 prompts to encourage participants to continue. 1) 'please continue' 2)'The experiment requires that you continue' 3)'It is absolutely essential that you continue' 4)'You have no other choice, you must go on
• Participant Response

  No participant stopped below 300v, 12.5% stopped at 300v and 65% went to 450v
• Qualitative Data


  Participants exhibited physical signs of distress
• Debriefing

  Participants were informed about the true nature of the experiment and 84% of them were happy to have been part of the experiment
• Prediction vs. Reality

  14 psychology students predicted only 3% would go to 450v, but 65% did