burger Flashcards
why was 150 V used as a POINT OF NO RETURN
Only 7 participants who went past 150 volts stopped at all. Another way to say this is that 79% of the people who continued past 150 volts (26 of 33) went all the way to the end of the shock generator’s range. In short, the 150-volt switch is something of a point of no return.
how did burger make his study more ethical
I used a two-step screening process for potential partici- pants to exclude any individual who might have a negative reaction to the experience. Second, participants were told at least three times (twice in writing) that they could withdraw from the study at any time and still receive their $50 for participation. Third, like Milgram, I had the experimenter administer a sample shock to the participants (with their consent) so they could see that the generator was real and could obtain some idea of what the shock felt like. How- ever, a very mild 15-volt shock was administered rather than the 45-volt shock Milgram gave his participants. Fourth, I allowed virtually no time to elapse between ending the session and informing participants that the learner had received no shocks. Within a few seconds of the study’s end, the learner entered the room to reassure the participant that he was fine. Fifth, the experimenter who ran the study also was a clinical psychologist who was in- structed to end the study immediately if he saw any signs of excessive stress
what did Burger discover about women
The women complied fully with the experi- menter’s commands 65% of the time, a rate identical to that in the comparable condition with men as participants. However, the obedient women reported higher levels of nervousness during the procedures than did the obedient men
give details on the sample
29 men and 41 women. Participants’ ages ranged from 20 to 81 years, and the mean age was 42.9 years
Give the results
70% of the base condition participants
continued with the next item on the test and had to be
stopped by the experimenter. This rate is slightly lower
than the percentage who continued beyond this point in
Milgram’s comparable condition (82.5%),
give strengths
high generalisability - more representative sample, 41 women, 18.6% Asians.
good ethics - 150V, 2 step screening, right to withdraw, clinical psychologist, immediate debrief - study can be replicated.
give weaknesses.
low internal validity - cannot establish that ppts who went to 150V would definitely go all the way to 450V. Milgram rate of obedience was higher at 150V (82%)
low external validity -
