Explanations for obedience: Milgram

Question 1

Def of obedience

Answer 1

Following a direct order from a figure of authority to make sure we don’t end up with some type of punishment

Question 2

Aim of milgrams baseline study

Answer 2

To investigate whether ordinary people will obey in extreme situations

Question 3

Milgrams baseline study participants

Answer 3

40 male volunteered participants paid £4.50 and told they would be paid this even if they quit during the study

Question 4

Milgrams baseline study procedure - step 1

Answer 4

Experimenter introduced ps to other ps (who were actually confederates)

Question 5

Milgrams baseline study procedure - step 2

Answer 5

Randomly allocated, confederate was connected to electric shock machine and p taken into adjoining room

Question 6

Milgrams baseline study procedure - step 3

Answer 6

Had to ask a confederate questions and administer increasingly long electric shocks every time question was answered wrong

Question 7

Milgrams baseline study procedure - step 4

Answer 7

P wasn’t actually shocking confederate but thought they were, experimenter had 3 prompts to try and get him to continue

Question 8

Milgrams baseline study procedure - step 5

Answer 8

Experimenter ended when p still refused to go on after the three prompts or they reached to the top voltage of 450v

Question 9

Milgrams baseline study: 4 evaluation points

Answer 9

• informed consent
• research support - game of death
• low validity
• research support - puppies

Question 10

Milgrams baseline study: elaboration of informed consent

Answer 10

• he breaches informed consent meaning they haven’t been fully informed about what they are expected to do and consent to doing it
• ps were told they were doing a memory experiment instead of consenting to real aims
• 3 ps had seizures as a result of exceeding stress levels

Question 11

Milgrams baseline study: elaboration of research support, game of death

Answer 11

• game of death TV show paid ps to give electric shocks they believed to be real but were actually fake
• 80% of ps on the show went to maximum voltage
• supports milgrams original findings increasing reliability bc shows consistency

Question 12

Milgrams baseline study: elaboration of low validity

Answer 12

• Milgram wasn’t actually measuring what he was meant to
• a study by Perry listened to milgrams recordings and found that only 50% of ps believed electric shocks were real
• this means behaviour he was testing wasn’t real - demand characteristics

Question 13

Milgrams baseline study: elaboration of puppy research support

Answer 13

• electrocuting real puppies, despite stress of animals
• 100% females delivered shock
• this shows milgrams feelings are accurate despite the fact that shocks were fake, meaning it gives milgrams findings higher validity

Question 14

Def situational variable

Answer 14

Is a feature of the immediate, physical and social environment that can influence someone’s behaviour

Question 15

Original experiment obedience rate

Answer 15

65%

Question 16

Obedience rate when venue was moved to less prestigious location

Answer 16

46.5%

Question 17

Obedience rate when teacher and learner in same room

Answer 17

40% - can see harm you’re giving

Question 18

Obedience rate when experimenter in lab coat pulled away and replaced with ordinary member of public

Answer 18

20%

Question 19

3 situational variables

Answer 19

• proximity
• location
• uniform

Question 20

Meaning of proximity

Answer 20

• proximity to learner and proximity to experimenter
• the closer to the learner the more obedience
• less exposed to effects of learner

Question 21

Meaning of location

Answer 21

Less obedience when the venue is not as prestigious

Question 22

Meaning of uniform

Answer 22

Less obedience when the experimenter doesn’t have an official uniform (white coat)

Question 23

Situational variables: 4 evaluation points

Answer 23

• research support - Bickman
• findings have been replicated in other cultures
• milgrams variations lack internal validity
• Milgram controlled his variables very closely

Question 24

Situational variables: elaboration of research support - Bickman

Answer 24

• Bickman carried out a field experiment in New York, 3 confederates were asked at different times by passers buyers to pick up litter
• people were 2x as likely to obey the confederate dressed in security guard than the person dressed in the jacket
• supports the role of uniform as a situational factor in obedience which adds validity to milgrams findings

Question 25

Situational variables: elaboration of findings have been replicated in other cultures

Answer 25

• Wim meeus and quntin raajmakers studied obedience in Dutch ps
• the ps were told to say stressful things in an interview to a confederate who appears desperate for a job
• 90% of ps obeyed, further when the person giving the orders wasn’t present! The levels of obedience decreased

Question 26

Situational variables: elaboration of milgrams variations lack internal validity

Answer 26

• ps may have worked out the procedure was fakes
• most likely in uniform variation which was very contrived
• therefore, obedience wasn’t truly being measured and results aren’t accurate reducing validity of milgrams findings

Question 27

Obedience rate when: elaboration of Milgram controlled his variables very closely

Answer 27

• only altering one thing at a time in his variations

- increasing the validity of findings