Migrams Baseline Study (1)

Question 1

What was the aim of Milgram’s study?

Answer 1

Milgram aimed to understand the behaviour of the Germans who had killed over 10 million people in the holocaust. There was a belief german were different and very obedient and Milgram wanted to test if someone would engage in destructive behaviour when commanded to.

Question 2

How much were men paid to take part in his study?

Answer 2

The men were offered $4.50 for their involvement

Question 3

Who was involved in the study?

Answer 3

Milgram recruited 40 men aged between 20-50 through the local newspaper and letters in the post

Question 4

What was the procedure in Milgrams experiment?

Answer 4

Upon arrival, participants were told they could drop out at any time and still be paid
They were introduced to the experimenter (named Mr Williams) a confederate of Milgram
They were introduced to another man Mr Wallace who would be the second participant who was really a Milgram’s associate
The participants were made to think they were randomly assigned the role of the teacher while in reality they had been chosen as Mr Wallace would always be a student
The teacher would watch the learner be strapped to the machine and would also experience a 45V shock
The teacher had to give the learner a test and for every wrong answer, a shock would be given each time the voltage would increase by 15V all the way to 450V.
Over the course of the task, the student would play a recording increasingly making noise as the task went on and eventually going silent
If the participant refused they would be given a series of identical “prods”
- “Please continue”
- “The experiment requires that you continue”
- “it is absolutely essential that you continue”
- “you have no other choice, you must go on”
If they protested after this they would be allowed to leave and the maximum shock would be recorded

Question 5

What did Milgram find in his baseline study?

Answer 5

65% went to the 450V full shock
100% went to 300V although at this point 12.5% dropped out
Participants were observed to tremble, sweat or dig they nails into their hands
35% exhibited nervous laughter
3 participants had uncontrollable seizures
This showed ordinary Americans were obedient to legitimate authority

Question 6

What was the explanation for Milgrams study?

Answer 6

Perceived competence and reputation of the researcher

Participation was advancing science

Question 7

What were the strengths of Milgram’s study?

Answer 7

He gave the same 4 prods meaning it was easily replicable

The same 2 men were used so each participant got the same exact experience

Question 8

What were the weaknesses of Milgram’s study?

Answer 8

Only white American men were involved so it is not applicable to all people
Many ethical issues - Diana baumrind presented an argument saying just because someone volunteered for a study doesn’t mean the experiment has no role to protect them and therefore Milgram should have gone further to prevent harm. She said he could have jeopardised psychological research

Question 9

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Anonymity and confidentiality

Answer 9

Anonymity and confidentiality - Milgram kept the participants anonymous

Question 10

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Deception

Answer 10

Deception - Milgram said he was testing learning so he lied to the participants as instead, he was testing them

Question 11

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Informed consent

Answer 11

Informed consent - Milgram made people believe the learner was being tested rather then themselves so they had not consented to what they thought they had

Question 12

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Privacy

Answer 12

Privacy - Milgram kept participants information private

Question 13

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Right to withdraw

Answer 13

Right to withdraw - He told people originally that they could leave at any time and receive full payment however in the experiment he used the prod “you have no other choice, you must go on” which counteracts this so he removed the right to withdraw.

Question 14

Did Milgram apply to ethics? Protection from harm

Answer 14

Protection from harm - Milgram did not properly debrief participants and exposed them to harm leaving some with psychological issues

Question 15

What were the variation studys?

Answer 15

• Variation 7
• Variation 10
• Variation 13

Question 16

What happened in variation 7

Answer 16

Done over the phone
22.5% went to the max
Some lied over the phone and did not increase the voltage
No supervision

Question 17

What happened in variation 10

Answer 17

Done in a run-down office block
Obedience was lower at 47.5%
The different location made it less prestigious
The physical surrounding was very important

Question 18

What happened in variation 13

Answer 18

The scientist would leave and give the second participant his role
Obedience went down to 20%
The variable was the one who gave the instruction
The experimenter was initially in the room but was then called out

Question 19

What participants were involved in Milgram’s 1963 obedience study?

Answer 19

40 adult males aged between 20 and 50 volunteer themselves through answering a newspaper advert and were paid four dollars to take part in a study of memory and learning.

Question 20

Where did Milgram’s original obedience study take place?

Answer 20

A laboratory at Yale University

Question 21

What was the procedure of Milgram’s original obedience study?

Answer 21

• Participants were told it was a test of learning and the effect on punishment on memory
• Participants were shown the equipment which was a shock generator in one room with switches going from 15 V to 450 V
• The teacher was given a sample shock of 45 V
• The teacher was instructed to start a word association task the teacher read a list of two word pairs and the learner was supposed to memorise them.
• the teacher next read the first word of the word pair again and asked the learner to choose the correct second word from a choice of four
• If the learner got the answer correct they would move onto the next word. If the answer was incorrect the teacher was instructed by the researcher to give the learner (fake) electric shocks.

Question 22

What standardised responses occurred during Milgram’s original experiment?

Answer 22

• Three out of four of the word task answers were given incorrectly
• Experiment 1: The learner banged on the wall when 300 V was applied. The learner refused to answer after 315 V.
• Experiment 2: The learner grunted at 75 V, learner said “experimenter, get me out of here” at 150 V, screamed and refused to continue at 300 V, and gave no response at 330 V.
• If the teacher hesitated, the experiment to said “please continue” or “it is absolutely essential that you continue”. If the teacher said the learner clearly did not want to continue the experimenter said “whether the learner likes or not you must go on until he has learnt all of the word pairs correctly so please go on.”
• if the teacher still refuse to go on the trial of the experiment was ended.

Question 23

What was the results of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 23

• Experiment 1: all teachers gave shocks up to 300 V up; and 65% continued to the full 450 V.
• Experiment 2: 62.5% of all teachers gave the full 450 V.
• These results completely contradicted the predicted results of 4% reaching the 450 V

Question 24

What is the conclusion of Milgram’s original obedience study?

Answer 24

• Ordinary people are capable of following orders to hurt others, even when this causes them distress.
• Obedience to authority is due more to situational factors than to deviant personality: Therefore Germans are not different.

Question 25

Within the conclusion, what did Milgram summarise the features that lead to obedience were?

Answer 25

• Yale university is a prestigious institution -> it represents Authority, respect and high standards; and is unlikely to allow anything unethical to occur
• Experimenter wore a white coat which represents authority and scientific knowledge
• The study seemed to have a worthy cause, which is to learn about memory
• The experiment wasn’t conducted against the learner’s will, and he had given consent
• The participant had volunteered and had made a commitment
• The participant was paid and thus felt obliged
• The shocks were painful, but not dangerous

Question 26

What are the strengths in the methodology of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 26

• There were 40 American males, from a range of occupations and ages- Large sample- Generalisable to American males
• The study involved both quantitated data and qualitative observations – good scientific research (Provides both objective and in-depth data analysis)
• Procedure was highly standardised – can be replicated to produce similar results, therefore reliable
• high degree of control over IV and DV, providing a good cause and effect relationship – high internal validity

Question 27

What are the weaknesses in the methodology of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 27

• The samples did not include females all people of different cultures. Therefore it is not representative of everyone and can’t be generalised to all of society.
• Volunteer sampling was used and participants may have been more compliant/obedient and character than others in American society. Therefore, the sample is not representative and findings can’t be fully generalised.
• Giving someone electric shocks does not represent every day life behaviour therefore the findings lack mundane realism.
• Participants may have guessed that the shocks were not real and played along with the experiment due to demand characteristics. Therefore the findings may not have internal validity.

Question 28

What are the strengths in the ethical issues of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 28

• Milgram carried out questionnaires with people before the experiment; as no one expected to be as obedient as they were. This means they didn’t plan for any psychological harm to happen.
• Participants volunteer themselves and thus gave general consent
• Milgram fully debriefed participants
• The initial report of the study kept the confidentiality of the participants
• Ethical guidelines were not as strict in the 1960s as they are today. Also Milgram had competence as a researcher.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses in the ethical issues of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 29

• Participants were placed on the great emotional stress, and even when this happened the experimenter prompted that they carried on. This breaks the guidelines of psychological harm.
• Participants did not know the experiment would be about obedience, and therefore informed consent was not gained
• There was a high level of deception in the study as participants thought it was a study of memory.
• Video and audio recording were made of participants and so confidentiality was not kept
• The verbal prompts from the experimenter reduced the participants’ awareness of their right to withdraw from the experiment.

Question 30

What real life example backs up the findings of Milgram’s original study?

Answer 30

Oskar Groening discussed that he was influenced by authority to commit the acts that he did during Nazi Germany

Question 31

What were the three variation studies?

Answer 31

Telephonic Instructions

Rundown Office Block

Ordinary Man Gives Order

Question 32

What happened during the telephonic instructions study?

Answer 32

• Milgram was investigating how the institutional context would affect the obedience of participants
• Milgram conducted this experiment in the sparsely furnished room in the rundown office building in Connecticut.
• Participants were told the study was being conducted by a private company commercial industry
• 48% of participants went to the full 450 V

Question 33

What happened during the ordinary man gives orders study?

Answer 33

• Milgram investigated the impact of power relations on obedience
• The experimenter goes through the same instructions as in the original study, but then received a fake phone call which makes him leave the room urgently. Before he leaves he instructs them to continue with the experiment
• The learner then tells the teacher he should increase the shock level by one step each time he makes a mistake. Throughout the experiment he insists that this procedure should be followed.
• 20% of participants went to the full 450 V

Question 34

What Situational Factors affect Obedience and Dissent?

Answer 34

Momentum of Compliance
Proximity
Status of the Authority
Personal Responsibility

Question 35

How does the Momentum of Compliance affect Obedience?

Answer 35

Starting with small + trivial requests, the participant has committed themselves to the experiment. as the experiment continued, the ppts felt duty bound to continue.

Milgram: The initial shocks were small, but increased slowly in 15-volt increments. The situation created a binding relationship that escalated steadily.

Question 36

How does Proximity affect Obedience?

Answer 36

The closer the authority figure, the higher the level of obedience.

Question 37

How does the Status of Authority affect Obedience?

Answer 37

Obedience could only be established when the authority figure was perceived to be legitimate.

Question 38

How does Personal Responsibility affect Obedience?

Answer 38

Participants would be more obedient when personal responsibility is removed, an places onto the shoulders of an authority figure.

In a variation study where ppts had to sign a contract that stated they were taking part at their own free will and relinquishing any legal responsibility from Yale university, obedience fell to 40%

Question 39

What Individual Differences are looked at which affect Obedience and Dissent?

Answer 39

Personality
Gender
Culture

Question 40

What Personality Factors affect Obedience and Dissent?

Answer 40

Locus of Control
Authoritarian Personality
Empathy

Question 41

How does Locus of Control affect Obedience and Dissent?

Answer 41

Rotter’s (1966) locus of control personality theory outlines that people either have an internal or external locus of control.

Internal: Individuals believe they are responsible for their own actions, and are less influenced by others.

External: Individuals believe behaviour is largely beyond their control, but due to external factors such as fate.

People with an external locus of control are more likely to be influenced by others.