Milgram's Variations

• Telephonic Instructions - Experiment 3:

  • Tested proximity effect (situational variable) on obedience
  • Experimenter gave instructions, then left room
  • Then only gave orders over phone
  • Obedience levels dropped from to 22.5%
  • Participants administered lower shocks, lying about levels and not increasing voltage
  • Demonstrated power of social situation on behavior
  • In another variation, when participants showed dissent, experimenter returned to room; obedience increased
• Rundown Office Block - Experiment 10:

  • Research conducted in rundown office block
  • Moved from prestigious Yale University
  • Participants told research was by Research Associates of Bridgeport for commercial industry
  • Experiments conducted in sparsely furnished 3-room office suite
  • Obedience dropped to 48%
  • In original experiment participants credited Yale University's integrity for confidence
  • Milgram said less reputable context decreased legitimacy of study in minds of participants
• Ordinary-man give instructions - Experiment 13:

  • Explore authority's status influence on obedience
  • Experimenter 'ordinary man'
  • 3 roles:
  • ‘teacher’ (naïve participant)
  • 'learner,'
  • ‘experimenter’ (recorded timing/results)
  • Researcher said to get ‘learner’ to persist with word pairs till perfect
  • Instructions to inc shock levels given by 'experimenter' throughout
  • Instructions given by someone participant thought another volunteer
  • Milgram found 20% (4/20 participants) gave max
  • Had to try hard to get ‘teacher' to keep shocking in researcher absence

  Participant as a Bystander - Experiment 13a:

  • If ‘teacher’ refused to administer further shocks
  • ‘Experimenter’ stated he would do it so moved in front of shock generator
  • Told teacher to record shocks length
  • 16 participants protested
  • 5 physically restrained them or tampered w/ generator
  • Remaining 11 despite protests allowed ‘experimenter’ to administer 450V (obedience of 68.75%)