Milgram Flashcards
Situational Obedience
External factors such as the environment and peers which effect our obedience
Dispotentional obedience
Internal factors such as genes and personality which effects obedience
What did the psychology students estimate the results would be?
14 psychology students estimated that no more than 3% would go up to 450
Location of experiment
Yale University Lab
How were the rooms laid out?
2 rooms:
- teacher and experimenter
- learner (hooked up to shock machine)
How were the participants gained?
Self selected through advertisements in newspapers and letters sent out by Milgram
What was the sample?
- 40 males
- 20 and 50 years old
- New Haven
- range of jobs (engineers, clerks)
- varying education levels
- each paid $4.50
What was the procedure?
- False aim
- rigged selection of teacher and learner
- teacher received small sample shock of 45 volts
- learner wouldn’t protest until 300 volts
- obedience measured at maximum shock administered
- session recorded
- interview & dehoax
Quantitative findings
- all gave a minimum of 300 volts
- only 12.5% stopped at 300 volts
- 65% gave full shock
- rest stopped between 300 - 450 volts
- obedient & defiant
Qualitative findings
- extreme tension and nervousness seen
- sweat, trembling, dig into flesh
- 14/40 had nervous laughing fits
- 3 had full seizures
- people who defiled were angry and walked away
- some were embarrassed and some were uncaring
Conclusion
- ordinary people are obedient to destructive orders
- people would kill a stranger
- situation causes people to be highly obedient
Factors which contributed to obedience
- location
- perception of legitimate authority
- inability to discuss findings
- obligation of participants due to volunteering
- conflict between to not harm learner or disobey authority
Evaluation of Milgrams reliability
+ burger (2009) conducted a replication of Milgram’s study, and found that 70% of participants were willing to go past 150 volts (the study was stopped there for ethical reasons)
- burgers research wasn’t an exact replication of Milgrams original work
- some people in the study may of already been aware of the study
Evaluation of Milgrams validity (internal)
+ Controlled observation, can be easily replicated, has control over extraneous variables
+ Participants were told the study was on memory and learning
-
Orme & Holland (1968) argued the participants knew the shocks weren’t real
(however Milgram reported 75% believed the shocks were real)
Evaluation of Milgrams validity (external)
+ different occupations
- Only males
- all from New Haven
- aged 20-50
- lab, is it representative of how obedience can occur in day to day life?
- 1963, old experiment
