Milgram

Question 1

Sample

Answer 1

40 American men
Aged 20-50

Question 2

How was the sample selected?

Answer 2

self selected
newspaper advert

Question 3

Negative of lab experiment

Answer 3

PPs aware that their behaviour was being recorded which may result in demand characteristics

Question 4

Positive of lab experiment

Answer 4

extraneous variables are controlled which increases internal validity

Question 5

Negative of sample

Answer 5

may be gender differences which limits generalisability

Question 6

Positive of sample

Answer 6

included men from a range of occupations and educational backgrounds so it was representative

Question 7

Positive ethics

Answer 7

debriefed

Question 8

Negative ethics

Answer 8

deception, PPs didn’t know true aim and thought shocks were real

Question 9

Explain how Milgram’s study can be related to the social area (3)

What points would you include?

Answer 9

Defining principle
How behaviour was measured
Authority figure influences behaviour

Question 10

Outline one weakness of the method used in
Milgram’s study into obedience.

What points would you include?

Answer 10

Identify a weakness
Context

Question 11

Outline one weakness of the method used in
Milgram’s study into obedience. (2)

Answer 11

The method lacks ecological validity as sitting in a room and giving presumably electric shocks to another person for getting an answer wrong does not reflect a real life situation

Question 12

Describe the background to Milgram’s study into
obedience. (4)

How would you answer this?

Answer 12

Context (ww2)
Obedience goes against moral beliefs
Aim

Question 13

Explain one way the sample used in this study may be
considered biased. (2)

Answer 13

All Participants were male so results cannot be generalised to females

Question 14

in Milgram’s study of obedience, the majority of participants
reached the most severe shock available on the shock
generator. Outline one reason to explain the high amounts of
obedience observed. [2]

Answer 14

The experimenter was perceived to have legitimate
authority so participants were fearful of the
consequences of not obeying.

Question 15

Aim

Answer 15

To investigate obedience to authority when pp are asked to perform an immoral act

Question 16

Findings

Answer 16

65% of pps were obedient to 450V
100% administered to 300V
Many PPs showed signs of stress: sweating, trembling, 3 had seizures

Question 17

Similarity between Milgram and Bocchiaro

Answer 17

Both use Volunteer sampling
This means all pp were willing to take part
Milgram - newspaper advert in New Haven
Bocchiaro - Flyer in Uni canteen

Question 18

Difference between Milgram and Bocchiaro

Answer 18

Milgram was less ethical than bocchiaro
Unethical research damages the reputation of psychology
Milgram - 3 pp has seizures so not protected from harm
Bocchiaro - 8 pilot studies to ensure moral acceptability

Question 19

How does Milgram link to the key theme - responses to authority

Answer 19

There are 2 ways people can respond, obedience or disobedience, people could also choose to whistleblow if they feel a request is unjust.

This links to Milgram because he was investigating obedience to an authority figure making the immoral request to administer a potentially lethal electric shock to a stranger, 65% of the pp were obedient to the 450V level despite previously having a 45v shock themselves

Question 20

Background

Answer 20

Milgram was Jewish and wanted to gain a better understanding of how the inhumane acts during the Holocaust could be explained. He wished to explore “the Germans are different” hypothesis and the war criminals defence that the Nazi officers were simply following orders

Question 21

Pros and Cons of research method

Answer 21

+ controlled lab environment, extraneous variables controlled, increase in internal validity

• pps aware that they their behaviour was being studied as they were brought into a lab, this created demand characteristics, so PPs may realise the study is about obedience

Question 22

Validity

Answer 22

pps may not have believed they were delivering real electric shocks

all participants who were given prod 4 “you have no other choice, you must go on” disobeyed, this challenges the conclusion because when participants were told they must blindly obey, they did not

Question 23

Sampling bias (pro and con)

Answer 23

+ included men from a range of occupations and educational backgrounds, so it is likely to be representative and generalisable of target population

• only males used, may be gender differences

Question 24

Ethical considerations (pro and cons)

Answer 24

+ PPs debriefed and many felt positive about the study

• debriefing was delayed for up to a year
• deception used

Question 25

Ethnocentrism

Answer 25

Only Americans used

America is an individualist culture - may have made pps more obedient, members of a collectivist culture might be more concerned with the learner’s suffering