Milgram Flashcards
What is the aim of this study?
to investigate the process of obedience by testing how far an individual will go in obeying an authority figure even if it is unmoral
What is the agentic state theory
when participants do not feel responsible for the learners pain they are willing to continue.
what was the method used
controlled observation
what was the sample?
40 male participants age 20 - 50 new haven area
what are some of the key results?
All participants continued to 300 volts
65% of participants continued to 450 volts (full)
3 participants had uncontrollable seizures
what are some of the key conclusions?
-inhumane acts can be done by ordinary people
-people will obey others whom they consider legitimate authority figures even if what they do goes against their moral beliefs
what are some of the controls?
participants always took the role of the teacher (fixed lottery)
all participants had the same learner produced by a tape recording which had a set of responses giving 3 wrong answers for every right one
experimenter had standardised prods
what was the procedure?
teacher was given a trial shock of 45 volts to make them believe it
teacher had to conduct a paired word test on the learner giving him an electric shock every wrong answer
the study finished when the teacher reached 450 volts or if they refused to continue
what were the ethical considerations ?
fully debreifed
what are the ethical issues ?
protection from harm
deception
what kind of data was collected ?
quantatative date
the amount of participants that refused to continue at each voltage
link the study to the key theme?
who- 40 male participants from the new haven area
what- to investigate the process of obedience even when it affects morals
how-administrating fake shocks to an individual
findings- people will obey someone whom they consider to be a legitimate authority figure even if it goes against their morals
65% of participants continued to 450 volts
link the study to the area
human thought processes and behaviours can be strongly influenced by the presence of individuals
aim- to investigate the process of obedience and the effect it has on morals
findings- people will obey others whom they consider to be legitimate authority figures even if it goes against their own moral beliefs
65%of people continued to 450 volts
how can milgrams study be considered ethnocentric
all participants were from the New Haven area
all americans
therefore not generalisable to other cultures
what is a weakness and strength of a controlled observation
strength- high internal validity due to the high control over extraneous variables
weakness-low ecological validity due to the artificial environment it does not represent everday behaviour
