Milgram and variations

• what was Milgram trying to understand?

  the holocaust, particularly the roles played by ordinary people. Do Germans have a character defect that makes them more obdedient.
• What was Milgram's hypothesis?

  Germans are different
• what was Milgram's sample?

  A volunteer sample of 40 American male participants aged 20-50 from various occupational backgrounds. Every participant was payed 4 dollars plus 50 cents travel. They were told the study was for the role of punishment in learning.
• who was teacher and learner?


  the teacher was always the naïve participant and the learner was always the confederate even though participants were told there was an equal chance.
• what was in each of the rooms?

  room 1 - desk and electric shock generator. light to show answers. teacher and experimenter wearing a lab coat. room 2 - a chair, restraining straps for electric shocks. tape recording hidden. the learner.
• the shock generator

  ranged from 15 to 450 volts. red labels with warnings such as 'mild shock' 'severe shock' 'extreme shock' 'xxx'. The teacher was given a real sock of 45 volts before the experiment. protests were heard at 300 volts and wall pounding. no sounds or protests at 315 volts.
• prompts


  included : please continue, it is absolutely necessary that you continue, you have no other choice you must go on.
• Findings of Milgram's study

  All participants went up to 300 volts and 65% went up to 450 volts. they dissented verbally, but still continued to obey.
• signs of distress and utterances in Milgram's study

  many wanted to stop. Signs of anxiety - sweating, trembling, lip biting, nervous laughter. 3 participants has seizures. " I don't want to be responsible for anything that happens to him." "I refuse to take responsibility."
• Conclusions of Milgram's study

  under certain circumstances, most people will obey orders that go against their conscience showing blind obedience. So atrocities such as the holocaust may be largely explained in terms of pressure to obey a powerful authority.
• What is obedience?

  a form of social influence,, an individual follows and responds to direct orders. This comes from a figure of authority and may have unpleasant consequences to disobey.
• explain Sheridan and Kings 1972 study for varying the victim

  13 male and 13 female volunteers from an undergraduate psychology course. students were told it was a learning experiment with real puppies. The shocks were real but mild. Participants could see the puppy in pain and squealing. the puppy was covertly anaesthetised, and collapsed. 77% fully obeyed.
• what type of validity was Milgram's experiment.

  High internal validity - research proof low external validity - not generalisable and low ecological value.
• what was believed by Orne and Holland

  that they were play acting and participants didn't believe the actual set up.
• what was discovered by Gina Perry in 2013

  that after listening to tapes of Milgram's participants, she found only half thought the shocks were real.
• what is a situational variable?

  variable related to external circumstances rather than the personalities of the people involved.
• what were the percentages of obedience when situational variables were changed.

  original - 65% location - 47.5% proximity - 40% physical proximity - 30% experimenter proximity - 20.5% uniform - 20%