classic study - milgram 1963

Question 1

What inspired milgram to study obedience?

Answer 1

Milgram was influenced by the Nazi war crimes during WW2 where soldiers (Eichmann) claimed they were just following orders when committing atrocities

Question 2

What was the aim of milgrams 1963 study?

Answer 2

To investigate how far ordinary people would go in obeying authority figures, even if it meant harming another person

Question 3

How were participants recruited for milgrams study?

Answer 3

Participants were recruited through a newspaper advertisement

Question 4

What were the characteristics of milgrams sample?

Answer 4

The sample consisted of male volunteers aged 20-50 from various backgrounds and occupations

Question 5

How many participants were in milgrams study?

Answer 5

40 male participants

Question 6

What sampling method did milgram use?

Answer 6

Volunteer sampling:
A self-selected sample where participants responded to an advertisement

Question 7

How were participants compensated for taking part in milgrams study?

Answer 7

Participants were paid $4.50 for attending the experiment, regardless of whether they continued to the end

Question 8

Where did milgrams study take place?

Answer 8

The study was conducted at Yale university in a controlled laboratory setting

Question 9

What were the participants told at the beginning of the study?

Answer 9

That they could drop out at any point and still keep the money

Question 10

What does a confederate mean?

Answer 10

a person who is secretly part of the experiment but pretends to be a participant that words with the researcher and acts in a predetermined way to manipulate or control the situation

Participants are unaware the confederate is not a genuine participant

Question 11

Who acted as the authority figure in milgrams study?

Answer 11

Mr Williams

The experimenter was a likeable man wearing a grey lab coat

Question 12

What roles were assigned to the particpants and the confederate

Answer 12

The participant was always assigned the role of teacher and the confederate (mr Wallace) was the learner

Question 13

How were the roles of milgrams experiment decided?

Answer 13

Lots were drawn but they were fixed as both pieces of paper had teacher written on them, the confederate pretended his said learner

Question 14

What tasks were the particpants in milgrams study asked to perform?

Answer 14

Participants were asked to administer electric shocks to the learner each time they give an incorrect answer on a word recall task

Question 15

What was the range of electric shocks in milgrams study?

Answer 15

15 volts - 450 volts

Question 16

How much did the voltage increase by for each question in milgrams study?

Answer 16

15 volts at a time but the shocks were fake

Question 17

What happened to the teacher at the start of the experiment to make them believe the machine was real in milgrams study?

Answer 17

They were given one real electric shock of 45 volts

Question 18

Explain the procedure of the pair-associate task in milgrams study in 5 steps

Answer 18

• the experimenter explained the pair associate task to the participant and told him to read a list of words mr Wallace must remember
• the teacher communicated through an intercom but he couldn’t hear the learner
• the participant read out the first word of the pair and gave 4 possible options
• mr Wallace presses on of the 4 switches to indicate his answer
• mr Wallace gives 3 wrong answers to every 1 answer

Question 19

What 3 responses did the learner give during the procedure of milgrams study?

Answer 19

150 volts - the learner began protesting and asking to stop

300 volts - the learner banged on the wall and stopped responding

315 volts - there was no further response

Question 20

What were the 4 verbal prompts given in milgrams study if the participant hesitated to continue?

Answer 20

• please continue
• the experiment requires that you continue
• it is absolutely essential that you continue
• you have no other choice, you must go on

Question 21

Why was a standardised procedure essential in milgrams study?

Answer 21

• to ensure that all participants had the same experience making the study more reliable as it could be replicated and to control extraneous variables
• to maintain consistency in prompts to ensure the authority figures influence was the same for every participant

Question 22

What happened at the end of milgrams procedure?

Answer 22

Participants were fully debriefed, reassured that the shocks were not real and that the learner was unharmed

Question 23

What percentage of participants obeyed fully to 450 volts in milgrams study?

Answer 23

65% of participants administers the maximum 450 volt shock

Question 24

What did the psychiatrists predict before the milgram study?

Answer 24

That only 1-2% of participants would administer the full 450 volts

Question 25

Before the study, what did the participants predict they would do if they were in the teachers role?

Answer 25

Most participants predicted they would stop obeying early and refuse to give high voltage shocks

Question 26

What was the lowest voltage all participants administered in milgrams study?

Answer 26

100% of participants administered at least 300 volts

Question 27

What 5 signs of distress did participants show during milgrams study?

Answer 27

• sweating
• trembling
• nervous laughter
• stuttering
• biting their lips

Question 28

What qualitative data did milgram collect from the study?

Answer 28

Milgram noted participants verbal protests and their physical signs of distress

Question 29

At what point did some participants refuse to continue in milgrams study?

Answer 29

35% of participants stopped obeying between 300 and 375 volts