Chapter 2 - Social Psychology Milgram Flashcards
What was the general aim of the Milgram study?
Level of obedience shown when participants were told by an authority figure to give electric shocks to another.
What method was used in this study?
Observational study
What is the target population in the Milgram study ?
Variety of people with different occupations
What did the sample consist of in the Milgram study ?
4 points
> 40 males
20 - 50 year olds
American ( New Haven area )
Backgrounds varied e.g jobs
What sampling method was used in Milgrams study ?
Self selected sampling
What was the level of data collected in the Milgram study ?
(Quantitive) Ratio/interval data -
As its the voltage reached in which ratio/interval use a fixed unit of measurement and has a zero value
What was the conclusions of the Milgram study ?
That Americans are not different to Germans when it comes to obedience as 65% of Americans reached maximum voltage (450v)
Concluded that the situation generates extraordinary tension and emotional strain
How many people reached maximum voltage in the Milgram study ?
26/40 of the participants
How many people did Milgram predict would give a fatal electric shock ?
( % )
0.03%
Out of 40, how many continued to 300v, and how many refused to continue ?
All 40 continued till 300v and 5 refused to continue
How many people refused between the voltages of 315v-375v?
9 participants
What words were used when describing the participants in the Milgram study?
( 7 points )
> Sweating > Trembling > Biting their lips > Groaning > Digging their fingernails into their hands > Crying > Laughing
How many participants had violent convulsions?
3 people
How were the participants obtained?
They were obtained through self selection in through a new haven newspaper advertisement
How much were the participant offered if they was to take part in the study?
$4.50
Why is it arguable that the face validity of this study was hard to tell that it was about obedience?
It is arguable due to the behaviour of the participants could also reflect their levels of empathy (with the learner), or their levels of moral courage, resulting in it not being obvious why 65% gave the highest voltage
How was Milgrams study similar to a nazi death camp?
3
- That the issuing of explicit instructions to do something that would cause suffering to another innocent person
- issuing of payment of those carrying out the act
- the attempt of convincing others doing the harm that their actions are serving some bigger, socially worthwhile purpose
How good is the reliability of this study?
It is reliable as it was replicable, evident as he carried out this experiment on 40 different participants, possible due to the standardized procedure
what was the issue of the sample?
As milgram collected 20-50 year old working class men (to reflect the sort of people who would have worked in death camps), He would have been able to collect “like with like” to see whether obedience was universal but this was a problem as (in the original study), NO WOMEN took part and all the men came from the same country and same area (ethnocentric)
What was the issue of ethnocentrism?
It was an issue as all the participants came from the same country (USA) and i cannot be assumed that the levels of obedience seen among his american participants would reflect the level in other cultures
What was a positive of the study being ethnocentric?
The showed that obedience to authority is something that could be expected in different countries around the world evident through replications seen in subsequent years e.g UK,Spain,Italy
State how the study defies the individual explanations debate.
The fact that 35% of ppts were able to resist the pressure of the situation and walk away before administrating the highest voltage proves that people personalities can be a greater influence on their behavior than the situation
State how the study defies the situational explanations debate.
Milgram conducted variations of his orginal procedure by conducting them at an office building in bridgeport ((47.5% went to 450v)), having two experimenters to give contradictory commands about whether the teacher should stop giving shocks ((0% went to 450v))
how were participants deceived?
-Told it was a study about learning and memory, not obedience .
