Chapter 2 - Social Psychology Milgram

Question 1

What was the general aim of the Milgram study?

Answer 1

Level of obedience shown when participants were told by an authority figure to give electric shocks to another.

Question 2

What method was used in this study?

Answer 2

Observational study

Question 3

What is the target population in the Milgram study ?

Answer 3

Variety of people with different occupations

Question 4

What did the sample consist of in the Milgram study ?

4 points

Answer 4

> 40 males
20 - 50 year olds
American ( New Haven area )
Backgrounds varied e.g jobs

Question 5

What sampling method was used in Milgrams study ?

Answer 5

Self selected sampling

Question 6

What was the level of data collected in the Milgram study ?

Answer 6

(Quantitive) Ratio/interval data -

As its the voltage reached in which ratio/interval use a fixed unit of measurement and has a zero value

Question 7

What was the conclusions of the Milgram study ?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

How many people reached maximum voltage in the Milgram study ?

Answer 8

26/40 of the participants

Question 9

How many people did Milgram predict would give a fatal electric shock ?

( % )

Answer 9

0.03%

Question 10

Out of 40, how many continued to 300v, and how many refused to continue ?

Answer 10

All 40 continued till 300v and 5 refused to continue

Question 11

How many people refused between the voltages of 315v-375v?

Answer 11

9 participants

Question 12

What words were used when describing the participants in the Milgram study?

( 7 points )

Answer 12

> Sweating 
> Trembling 
> Biting their lips
> Groaning 
> Digging their fingernails into their hands 
> Crying 
> Laughing

Question 13

How many participants had violent convulsions?

Answer 13

3 people

Question 14

How were the participants obtained?

Answer 14

They were obtained through self selection in through a new haven newspaper advertisement

Question 15

How much were the participant offered if they was to take part in the study?

Answer 15

$4.50

Question 16

Why is it arguable that the face validity of this study was hard to tell that it was about obedience?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

How was Milgrams study similar to a nazi death camp?

3

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

How good is the reliability of this study?

Answer 18

It is reliable as it was replicable, evident as he carried out this experiment on 40 different participants, possible due to the standardized procedure

Question 19

what was the issue of the sample?

Answer 19

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)

Question 20

What was the issue of ethnocentrism?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What was a positive of the study being ethnocentric?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

State how the study defies the individual explanations debate.

Answer 22

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

Question 23

State how the study defies the situational explanations debate.

Answer 23

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))

Question 24

how were participants deceived?

Answer 24

-Told it was a study about learning and memory, not obedience .

Question 25

how was the protection of participants broken?

Answer 25

3 participants had convulsions

Question 26

how were participants with the right to withdraw?

Answer 26

They were allowed to withdraw, but after many discouraging comments from the experimenter

Question 27

Why is this study in the social approach?

Answer 27

It reveals the extent to which people’s behaviour can be influenced by other people around them e.g the participants didn’t administer high electric shocks to the “learner”, but in the face of prods from the experimenter, making them go against their desires.