L11 - Milgram obedience experiments Flashcards
When someone makes a racial gaffe or slip of the tongue, what techniques can they use to repair the damage done to their reputation?
Self-intitiated repairs: Repairs refer to those made by the speaker of the trouble source
Other-initiated repairs: performed by any party other than the speaker of the trouble source
CA states that when people make self and other-initiated repairs in interaction, they make create a conversation that is in what way oriented?
It is co-produced in ways that orient to social norms
“→Martin Luther Coon(.1)-King (.) junior day .hhh (.3)”
What is this an example of?
By cutting himself off and saying “king” it is a quick and subtle self-repair that he hoped to go unnoticed.
For whetherman Blair after he made his “coon-king” error he stated this
“On a weather report earlier this morning, I made an
accidental slip of the tongue when talking about the
Martin Luther King holiday, and what I said was
interpreted by many viewers as highly offensive. For
that I offer my deepest apology. I in no way intended
to offend anyone. I’m very sorry.”
Explain how this was phrased to show he was sorry.
He was referring to social norms
stated: “an accidental slip of the tongue” - justifies error using a judgment of capacity
“many viewers” who found this “highly offensive”
“deepest apology”, “im very sorry” - used to amplify his regret
He lost his job as a consequence
In contrast to “slips of the tongue” what are racial gaffes?
‘Unknowing breaches’
Speach blunders where the speakers avow ignorance.
- Slips of the tongue = knows better faults*
- Racial gaffes = doesn’t know better faults*
While slips of the tongue can be immediately repaired, gaffes in comparison…
take multiple turns to repair, and involved a combination of both self and other-initiated repair like practices to complete
Describe Milgram’s Obedience Experiments
Naïve participants invited to take part in a study investigating the effects of punishment on learning
Asked to take on the role of ‘teacher’ in a memory task
Sat in front of an electric shock generator signposted with increasing levels of shock ranging from 15 volts to maximum of 450 volts
Each mistake made by the learner required the teacher to administer 15v increment of electric shock
Of course as we know the ‘learner’ was a confederate and did not actually receive any shocks. Pre-recorded protests from the learner were delivered at particular levels of shock and grew in intensity with each increasing level of shock.
What were the 4 prods used by the experimenter to the ‘teacher’ in Milgram’s experiment?
Prod 1: Please continue, or. Please go on
Prod 2: The experiment requires that you continue
Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue
Prod 4: You have no other choice, you must go on.
In Milgram’s experiment, what additional prods were used to answer specific questions from participants?
- Although the shocks may be painful, there is no permanent tissue damage, so please go on.
- Whether the learner likes it or not, you must go on until he has learned all the word pairs correctly. So please go on.
In Milgram’s experiment, what was the maximum shock voltage?
450 volts
In Milgram’s experiment, how many participants administered the maximum voltage?
62.5%
What were the conclusions of Milgram’s experiment?
The majority of people will obey orders from an authority figure despite the fact that it may be causing harm to another person.
What was Milgram’s explanation for why participants acted the way they did?
The Agentic State
The critical shift in functioning is reflected in an alteration of attitude.
The person no longer views himself as acting out of his own purposes but rather comes to see himself as an agent for executing the wishes of another person.
They view themselves in a different state - the agentic state
What is the The Agentic State?
The state a person is in when he sees himself as an agent for carrying out anothe rperson’s wishes
What are people in the agentic state succeptiblie to?
Open to regulation by a person of higher status. (no longer sees himself as responsible for his own actions)
The most common excuse for people who have committed heinous acts under the command of authority.
What rhetorical strategies did P use to undermine the E’s authority?
Recategorising what E presented as ‘fact’ (no permanent tissue damage) to ‘opinion’
Subverts E’s statement (you have no other choice)by making reference to his national location - implicitly invoking values that are central to American democratic values such as freedom and individual liberty
What techniques does the P use to undermine E’s authority in this example?
Category entitlement
Self-categorizing as an electrical engineer and therefore having special knowledge about the effects of electric shocks
- invoking special knowledge, or invoking ‘epsitemic authority’ (Potter, 1996)
What rhetorical strategies is the P using here?
- draws attention to the learner’s ‘hollering’
- particularizes the experimenter’s use of prod 3 by drawing a contrast between the experiment’s importance for the experimenter and for himself
3 places a further condition on his continued participation to the effect that he will only continue if he can receive an assurance himself from the learner that he wishes to continue.
- Moreover, there are several noticeably lengthy silences which can also be understood as having a resistive function (Hollander, 2015).
What 4 rhetorical techniques did the experimenter attempt to do to elicit obedience in the experiment?
