Milgram Flashcards
What category of psychology does Milgram’s research fall under?
Social psychology
What was the sample of Milgram’s research?
Milgram obtained 40 male participants using self-select sampling via advertisements in newspapers and letters.
They were aged 20-50 with a variety of jobs (highschool teachers, salesmen, engineers, etc).
Had varying levels of education, with one participant not finishing elementary school and others having doctorates.
Each participant was paid $4.50 for coming to the lab, and they could keep the money no matter what happened.
How many participants were in the study?
40 males
How old were the participants?
20-50
What characteristics did the participants have?
Variety of jobs: highschool teacher, salesman, engineer, etc.
Varying education: One elementary school dropout to doctorates.
How much were the participants payed?
$4.50
How did Milgram obtain his participants?
Advertisements in newspapers and sending letters.
What sampling method was used?
Self-select
Where did the study take place?
Yale University
What were the procedures of Milgram’s research?
- Participants were introduced to another participant called Mr Wallace (a confederate).
- Participants drew slips to decide who would be the teacher and who would be the learner. It was rigged so that all the participants would be the teacher and Mr Wallace would be the learner.
- The student and learner were taken to a neighbouring room, where the learner was strapped to an ‘electric chair’.
- Mr Wallace was told to give three wrong answers for every correct one, and to give set responses whenever the voltage increased , including complaining about his heart.
- The teacher was then taken to a joining room containing a ‘shock machine’. The machine had 30 switches, ranging from 15V ‘light shock’ to 450V ‘XXX”.
- The ‘experimenter’ acted as the authority figure, and gave the teacher a sample shock to prove that the shock machine was real. The experimenter remained in the same room as the teacher.
- The teacher was told to give a shock to the learner whenever he gave a wrong answer, and that he should increase the voltage every time.
- Milgram instructed the experimenter to used the following prods when there was any hesitation: “Please continue”, “The experiment requires you to continue”, “It is absolutely essential that you continue”, etc.
- After the study, the participants were thoroughly debriefed and reuinted with Mr Wallace.
What was the first step in the procedures of Milgram?
Participants were introduced to another participant called Mr Wallace (a confederate).
What was the second step in the procedures of Milgram?
Participants drew slips to decide who would be the teacher and who would be the learner. It was rigged so that all the participants would be the teacher and Mr Wallace would be the learner.
What was the third step in the procedures of Milgram?
The student and learner were taken to a neighbouring room, where the learner was strapped to an ‘electric chair’.
What was the fourth step in the procedures of Milgram?
Mr Wallace was told to give three wrong answers for every correct one, and to give set responses whenever the voltage increased , including complaining about his heart.
What was the fifth step in the procedures of Milgram?
The teacher was then taken to a joining room containing a ‘shock machine’. The machine had 30 switches, ranging from 15V ‘light shock’ to 450V ‘XXX”.
