milgram

Question 1

background

Answer 1

following ww2, it was assumed that germans must have had a basic defect which meant they blindly obeyed order. milgram wanted to test out if anyone was capable of obeying authority

Question 2

aim

Answer 2

the aim of this study was to investigate the process of obedience by testing how far ordinary Americans would go in obeying an authority figure

Question 3

sample

Answer 3

40 men from new haven area aged 20-50 with range of occupation $4, 50 cent carfare, from a newspaper advert

Question 4

procedure

Answer 4

-greeted by an experimenter wearing a lab coat at yale university
-met mr wallace and was “randomly assigned” the teacher role and given a trial sohock of 45v to tell you it is real
-the learner is given a pair of word tasks to remember
-if answered incorrectly you have to give a shock, which escalates up 15v each time

Question 5

what happens at 300v

Answer 5

the learner mr wallace stops answering questions and the experimenter treats this as an incorrect answer, meaning you have to administer the shock

Question 6

what happens at 450v

Answer 6

the experimenter ends the study, unless the teacher refuses

Question 7

what does the experimenter say

Answer 7

please continue
the experiment requires that you continue
it is absolutely essential that you continue
you have no other choice; you must go on

Question 8

percent who went to 450 volts

Answer 8

65%

Question 9

qualitative findings

Answer 9

participants were ‘observed to sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their flesh’
14 showed nervous laughter
three had ‘Full-blown uncontrollable seizures’

Question 10

conclusions

Answer 10

milgram concluded that it was the situation that produces strong tendencies to obey (most people are capable of harming others if told to by a perceived authority figure)

the situation also causes extraordinary tension and emotional strain.