burger contemporary study Flashcards
aim
- to replicate milgram in a ethical way
- to see if there was a difference in the levels of obedience in milgram’s baseline study and his own study (model refusal condition)
sample
- 70 ppts
- 29 men
- 41 women
- aged 20-81
- paid $50 before the study was started
- volunteer sampling
- ppts were screened out
- a clinical psychologist conducted a structured interview to screen out anyone who might of reacted badly to the study
- those who had taken more than 2 psychology lessons were screened out
- they screened out people based of their mental health and drug dependency
- a second screening occurred where age, occupation and education were asked about
method
- independent measures design
- lab experiment
- volunteer sampling
procedure
- sample mark
- ppts took part in a rigged draw, where they were always a teacher, one of the confederates was a learner and the other confederate was also a teacher
- the ppt was given a sample shock of 15V
- they watched the learner be trapped into the electric chair and then goes to the next room where the shock generator is
- the ppt is told for every incorrect answer the learner gives they have to deliver an electric shock starting at 15V and going up by 15V each time
- the learner indicates that he has a slight heart condition but the experimenter tells him the shocks are not harmful
- at 75V the learner makes a small grunt
- at 150V the learner cries that he wants to stop and complains about chest pains
- in the model refusal condition there was another confederate who was a teacher, who delivers the electric shocks
- at 90V the confederate turns to the ppt and and says, “i don’t know about this’ and didn’t carry on.
- the experimenter tells the ppt to take over and deliver the electric shocks
- burger used questionnaires to measure individual differences that may be factors of obedience
- one questionnaire measured empathy and the other measured locus of control
results
- 70% of the base condition carried on after 150V compared to 82.5% in Milgram’s 5th study study
- 12 ppts stopped at 150V or earlier.
conclusions
- time and culture had no effect on obedience and neither did the 2nd confederate so Milgram’s results still stand 45 years later
- no gender difference in obedience levels
strengths
High in validity. Large sample size of 70. He sampled 29 men and 41 women, using volunteer sampling. Therefore, any anomalies of high or low obedience scores will be average out and will not skew the data.
High reliability. standardised procedure (give couple of points), Therefore, the study can be repeated to test for a consistency of findings of if the levels of obedience have changed overtime since milgram’s study..
weaknesses
lacks gen. Many people were screened out of the study, e.g if they had taken more than 2 psychology lessons, and based on their mental health and drug dependency. A second screening occured where age, occupation and education were asked about. Therefore, the results of obedience when asked to give an electric shock to a learner by an authority figure may not represent all groups in society, only a select few.
Lacks eco val + mundane realism. Unusual task and lab setting. Asked to shock someone with a heart condition. electrocuting people is not seen as a normal activity that regularly happens and is highly artificial. Therefore, the result of obedience may not represent a real life situation. People may act differently in the study compared to everyday life, reducing the application of the experiment.
application
High app. He concluded that the results were similar to Milgram’s research 45 years ago and that time and culture had no effect on obedience and neither did the 2nd confederate and found that 70% of ppts carried on after 150V. He also found there was no gender differences in obedience levels. This means that the stigma could be removed, decreasing sexism.
