milgram

• Milgram's study


  To see if any individual would harm someone else because an authority figure told them to
• Milgram's study


  • Volunteer sample of American males at Yale University
  • Confederate was learner + participant was teacher
  • Told it was a memory study
  • Teacher had to shock learner if they gave an incorrect answer
  • Starting from 15 volts, obedience increased to 450 volts if participant wanted to stop, the experimenter gave them prompts to continue
• All participants went to 300 volts
• 65% went to 450 volts
• so not generalisable
• only middle class American men
• 1. other cultures + genders may produce different results, lacks population validity
• 1. ethical issues
• 1. no right to withdraw (prompts encouraging them to continue), psychological harm, distress + seizures) decieved participants told it was a memory study + Shocks were fake) so couldn't give informed consent
• People had emotional reactions suggesting they believed they were genuinely harming someone
• Controlled lab experiment


  • Control of extraneous variables, eg. what the experimenter was wearing
  • Meant a cause and effect relationship could be established therefore increasing internal validity
• 1. artificial task


  Experimental task that does not reflect real-world situations
• 1. being told to give people electric shocks


  Experimental task that does not reflect everyday life
• 1. lacks mundane realism + ecological validity


  • Experimental task does not have real-world relevance or applicability
• 1. not generalisable