Milgram Flashcards
What was the aim of Milgram’s study?
To find levels of obedience to an authority figure
Who were the participants?
40 males, between 20-50 no students, and they were all from New Haven USA
What was the method?
Independent measures.
Laboratory experiment.
How were their roles selected?
They put the roles in a hat, the participant and the stooge chose them ‘at random’ they both said teacher.
Who is Mr.Wallace?
Mr Wallace was the stooge used by Milgram, he was described as a good man with a heart condition, who also wanted to take part.
Did Mr.Wallace scream?
Pre-recorded voices of a man screaming and the phrases he said were used, Mr.Wallace did not make any noise at all.
What was the procedure of obedience?
Mr Wallace was to be shocked for every answer he got wrong in the ‘memory test’ he purposely got answers wrong in order to be shocked.
What was special about the shocks?
The real participant would have to administer these shocks, each time he got one wrong the voltage would increase. (15v - 450v)
What were the phrases Mr. Wallace used?
“Get me out”
“You can’t keep me here”
What would happen when a PPT hesitated to administer the shock?
They were given prods of:
“Please continue”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue”
“You have no other choice”
“Whether you like it or not you must go on”
What were the results?
All participants went to 300v
65% went all the way to 450v
What signs of stress did the PPTs experience?
They would sigh from tension, laugh from nervousness, 3 had seizures, and showed relief once it was over.
Strengths?
-Controlled experiment
-Standardised
-Applicable to real life (holocaust)
Weakness?
-Very unethical
-Ungeneralisable
-There were many influencing factors (EVs)
-Very unreliable
What is an agentic state?
A state where you just do as you’re told as the blame is on someone else.
