milgram

• background

  • wanted to research why people obeyed in the killing of innocent people during the Second World War in concentration camps
  • do disposition factors influence these events
• aim - investigate why people obey unjust requests from an unjust authority figure
• method

  • controlled observation
• sample

  • 40 males
  • from New Haven
  • self-selected sampling from a newspaper advert
  • paid $4.50
• procedure

  1. told the study was on the effect of punishment on learning
  2. ps were asked to draw from a hat to see who the learner and who was the teacher
  3. ps were always the teacher
  4. teachers were told to shock the learner for every incorrect word pair received
  5. the learner produced a set of predetermined responses on the audio box
  6. shown the learner after who was completely fine and given a debrief
• results

  • 100% shocked the learner to 300v
  • 65% shocked to max 450v
  • many ps showed signs of distress by sweating, trembling and some had a seizure
• conclusion

  the experimenter says they take responsibility if anything bad happens to the learner, the ps therefore feels that it is okay to continue to shock the learner - agentic state

  the setting, and formality of the experiment also would've influenced the behaviour as many had never been to Yale and did not attend university
• strengths

  • high levels of control
  • reduced chances of demand characteristics
  • Wide age range more representative. 
  • debrief followed
• weaknesses

  • People could be only there for money reducing validity
  • Androcentric sample population validity lowered. 
  • Only one area sampled so not a representative sample
• ethics

  • right to withdraw made difficult due to use of prods
  • no free from deception
  • followed debrief
  • no protection from harm