10 - milgram ao3 Flashcards
describe how bickman’s investigation of the power of uniform is research support for milgram (strength)
bickman investigated the power of uniform in a field experiment conduced in new york. he used three male actors dressed as a milkman, a security guard and in ordinary clothes. they asked members of the public to follow one of three following instructions: pick up a bag, give someone money for a parking metre and stand on the other side of a bus stop sign which said no standing. on average the guard was obeyed on 76% of occasions, milkman 47% and pedestrian 30%. suggests people more likely to obey when there is perceived legitimate authority through uniform
how does milgrams study have ethical issues such as deception, right to withdraw and protection from harm? (weakness)
deceived participants because he said the experiment was on punishment and learning, when in fact he was measuring obedience and pretended the learner was having electric shocks#
difficult for participants to withdraw from the study, as the experimenter prompted them to continue
many reported feeling exceptionally stressed and anxious, so not protected from psychological harm as they felt guilt.
how did milgram deal with ethical issues? (strength)
essential to deceive participants and remove their right to withdraw to test obedience and provide valid results. debriefed them following the experiment and 83.7% of them said that they were happy to have taken part and contribute to scientific research
how does milgrams study lack ecological validity (weakness)
tested obedience in a lab which is very different to real life, where people are often asked to follow subtle instructions rather than administering electric shocks. unable to generalise findings to real life, cannot conclude people would obey less severe instructions in the same way
how does milgrams study lack population validity (weakness)
used a biased sample of 40 male volunteers, unable to generalise to other populations especially females. cannot conclude if female participants would respond in a similar way
explain how the french tv show the game of death shows external reliability for milgrams study (strength)
did a similar experiment but participants thought they were taking part in a new game show. found similar results, 80% of ps delivered maximum shock of 450 volts. behaved in a similar way to milgrams ps, laughing and biting their nails.
how did orne and holland, and sheridan and king show that milgrams study lacks internal validity (weakness)
orne and holland said that the participants didnt really believe the set up. they suggest that therefore milgram was not really testing what he thought he did so it lacked internal validity.
sheridan and king did a study where real electric shocks were delivered to a puppy. 54% of males delivered a fatal shock and 100% of women
