2) obedience Flashcards
define obedience
complying with the demands of an authority figure
what was the aim of Milgram’s obedience research?
to investigate whether ordinary people would obey an unjust order from an authority figure and inflict pain and injure an innocent person
describe the procedures of Milgram’s obedience research
- 40 male ppts recruited through news advert
- drew lots with fellow confederate to see who would be role of teacher/student, yet ppt was always teacher
- ‘learner’ was starpped into chair next door whilst ‘teacher’ tested their ability to recall words - each time they got one wrong a shock would be given by teacher
- shocks increased in 15s until 450 volts
- at 300 volts the learner would complain, after 315 there was no response
- if teacher tried to stop, experimenter would give promts like “the experiment requires you to continue”
describe the findings of Milgram’s obedience research
- 65% gave shock up to 450 volts and 35% stopped just before
- qualitative data was also collected
–> signs of distress such as sweating, trembling
what were the conclusion of Milgram’s obedience research
under the right situational circumstances, ordinary ppl obey unjust orders from someone perceived to be a legitimate authority figure
what are some overall A03 points of Milgram’s obedience research
- biased sample
- ethical issues
- low internal validity
describe an A03 of Milgram’s obedience research regarding bias sample
- lacks population validity
- bias sample of 40 males makes study androcentric
- cant generalise results
relish –> Sheridan and King did similar study and found that 54% of males and 100% of females delivered ‘shock’
describe an A03 of Milgram’s obedience research regarding ethical issues
- didn’t protect ppts from psychological harm
- many showed signs of distress during experiment and may have continued to feel guilty
describe an A03 of Milgram’s obedience research regarding internal validity
- Orne and Holland argued ppts guessed the shocks were fake and were ‘play acting’
- supported by Perry’s findings that only half the ppts believed shocks were real after listening to the tapes
- ppts were showing demand characteristics
relish –> Sheridan and Kings’ ppts gave real shocks to puppies so results may have been valid
what are some situational variables that affect obedience
- location
- proximity
- uniform
describe how location affects obedience
A01 –> where order is given affects obedience
A03 –> Milgram changed location of his test to a run down building
- levels of obedience dropped from 65% to 47.5%
describe how proximity affects obedience
A01 –> closeness of authority figure of the person giving order - closer = more obedience
A03 –> Milgram - when experimenter gave orders from phone in other room obedience dropped to 20.5%
describe how uniform effects obedience
A01 –> clothes worn by AF that represent status - uniform = more obedience
A03 –> Milgram - experimenter called away and replaced by another ‘ppt’ in normal clothes
- number of ppl who administered full shock dropped from 65% to 20%
