Lesson 6 - Milgram and Obedience to Authority

Question 1

Milgram’s Hypothesis

Answer 1

That German’s were not just wired to be more obedient, for example in the Nazi Era, where they participated or conformed to the regime. Situational factors led to the inhumane behaviour of the Nazis.

Question 2

Milgram’s aim

Answer 2

To investigate the level of obedience participants would show when an authority figure tells them to administer electric shocks to another human being.

To prove that the Holocaust was due to the situational factors of the soldiers

Question 3

Method of Milgram’s study

Answer 3

• Milgram selected participants by volunteer sampling for male participants to take part in a study of learning at Yale
• 40 male participants took part
• Paid $4 an hour, told that the study was of memory and learning (deception)
• Each participant was paired with another participant and they selected either ‘learner’ or ‘teacher’. It was fixed so that the learner was always a confederate, and the teacher was always a participant
• The learner was known as Mr. Wallace. He was taken into a room and had electrodes attached to his arms. The pp saw this happen.
• Wallace was asked if he had any medical conditions, and he replied that he had a minor heart condition. The teacher and researcher went into a next-door room with a shock generator and a row of switches that had varying voltages (15 to 375)
• The participant did not know that this was false, and that they were not actually giving out electric shocks
• The participant (teacher) was told to read out pairs of words that the learner had to remember. If they got one wrong or said nothing at all, the participants had to give them a shock and increase the voltage every time.

180 volts - the learner shouted that he could not take it anymore

300 volts - he begged to be released

315 volts - there was silence

The researcher was given 4 prods to say if there was any indication that they did not wish to go on.

The prods were instructed to be administered in sequence (if 1 didnt work, then use 2, etc.)

Question 4

Results/findings of Milgram’s study

Answer 4

Milgram predicted before the study that 2% of people would shock to the highest level, and most people would quit early on. 14 independent psychology students predicted that no more than 3% would continue to 450 volts

ALL participants shocked up to 300 volts, and 65% shocked up to 450

A total of 14 participants defied the experimenter, and 26 obeyed.

Many showed signs of nervousness and tension - sweating, trembling, bit their lips, dug fingernails into their flesh. Quite commonly, there were nervous laughing fits in 14/40

All were debriefed at the end, and sent a follow up questionnaire. 84% reported that they felt glad to have participated.

So, normal people will obey authority even if their actions may be detrimental. Therefore we reject the idea that Germans had a disposition to be more obedient.

Question 5

Prods

Answer 5

1. Please Continue
2. The experiment requires that you continue
3. It is absolutely essential that you continue
4. You have no other choice, you must go on

Question 6

Why were standardised prompts used?

Answer 6

Controls in experiments are anything that help keep the situation the same for each participant or each condition.

Question 7

Consequences of the study

Answer 7

Psychological discomfort

• Extreme nervous tension
• Physically sweating and continually asking for reassurance from the experimenter
• One participant had an epileptic fit

Question 8

Strengths of Milgram’s study

Answer 8

Good external validity - despite being carried out in a lab, it shows the relationships between authority and subordinate. Milgram argued that this lad experiment does reflect real life

Research support - Hofling et al (1966) found that out of 22 nurses in various American hospitals, who received calls from a “Dr. Smith of the Psychiatric Department”, instructing them to give a patient 20mg of a made up drug (Astrofen) when the maximum dose was 10mg, 21 obeyed, breaking hospital protocol

Supporting replication - “Le Jeu De La Mort” was a French documentary about reality TV. It replicated the study under the name ‘La Zone Xtreme’. It was done in front of a studio audience. 80% carried out the maximum shock of 460 volts to an apparently unconscious man. Same signs of nervousness detected.

Question 9

Weaknesses of Milgram’s study

Answer 9

Low internal validity - participants may have been showing demand characteristics. Orne and Holland (1968) argued that participants didnt really believe in the set up and guessed that they were giving fake shocks, therefore the study is not measuring what they set out to measure. Perry (2013) confirms that many expressed doubts on whether the shocks were real. Milgram however, reported that 70% believed that the shocks were real.

Ethical issues - Baumrind (1964) was critical of Milgram’s use of deception, as participants were not fully informed. Withdrawal was also made difficult due to the prods, and there was a risk of long term harm.