Milgrams teacher and learner study

• Milgram's research

  Stanley Milgram (1963) designed a baseline procedure that could be used to assess obedience levels
• Baseline procedure

  1. 40 American men volunteered

  2. Participant drawn as 'Teacher'

  3. Participant ordered to give shocks to 'Learner'

  4. Shocks were fake but participant didn't know this
• Every participant delivered all the shocks up to 300 volts
• 12.5% stopped at 300 volts and 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts
• Participants showed signs of extreme tension, many sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groaning, digging fingernails into hands, and three had full-blown uncontrollable seizures
• Before the study, psychology students estimated that no more than 3% of participants would continue to 450 volts
• 84% of participants said they were glad to have participated
• Milgram's conclusions

  German people are not 'different', American participants were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person
• A French documentary replicated Milgram's findings, with 80% of participants delivering the maximum shock of 460 volts