Milgram

Question 1

Aim of Milgram’s baseline procedure

Answer 1

discover whether regular Americans would obey an unjust order from an authority and whether it was situational or dispositional factors that influence this

Question 2

who were Milgram’s P’s and how many?

Answer 2

male volunteers, 40 of them

Question 3

how much were Milgram’s Ps paid?

Answer 3

$4.50 per hour

Question 4

what did the confederate have to do in Milgram’s study?

Answer 4

memorise word pairs and indicated choice with system of lights

Question 5

what happened if the learner got the answer wrong in Milgram’s study?

Answer 5

participant as teacher gave them a shock

Question 6

what happened if the participant hesitated in Milgram’s study

Answer 6

researcher in room gave a series of verbal prods such as ‘please continue’ or ‘it is essential that you continue’

Question 7

how many levers did the shock generator have and what was the voltage?

Answer 7

• 30 levers
• 15v intervals
• 15-450v

Question 8

3 findings of Milgram

Answer 8

• all went to 300v
• 65% went to full 450v
• most Ps found precedure very stressful and wanted to stop, but despite verbally objecting, continued to obey when prodded

Question 9

2 conclusions of Milgram

Answer 9

• under certain circumstances, people will obey orders going against their conscious
• when we have a subordinate position in hierarchy, we are likely to lose empathy, cmpassion and morality therefore inclined to blidly obey

Question 10

what did Milgram’s conclusions suggest about crimes of humanity?

Answer 10

• suggests it is situational rather than dispositional factors that lead to these crimes#it isn’t evil people committing atrocities, just regular people obeying orders

Question 11

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 47.5%? why?

Answer 11

• venue moved from Yale to run down office buillding
• decrease legitimacy and formality

Question 12

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 40%? why?

Answer 12

• teacher and learner in same room
• increased proximity, can see pain caused so feel more responsible

Question 13

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 30%? why?

Answer 13

• teacher forced learner’s hand onto a shock plate to deliver shock
• increased proximity and feel more responsible when forcing hand

Question 14

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 10%? why?

Answer 14

• Teacher had support from 2 other ‘teachers’ (Cs) who refused to continue
• NSI conformity and social support to resist authority

Question 15

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 92.5%? why?

Answer 15

• Teacher paired with an assistant (c) who flipped switches
• responsibility decreased through diffusion of responsibility and agentic state

Question 16

which variation of Milgram’s study had an obedience rate of 20.5%? why?

Answer 16

• experimenter instructs and prods over the phone from another room
• increased proximity from authority

Question 17

Milgram evaluation phrase

Answer 17

controlling puppies to pretend artificial populations are ethical

Question 18

how was internal validity of Milgram’s study increased?

Answer 18

• great control over variables and procedure was standardised
• prods given in same order
• responses of learner to each shock were recorded and same ones played for each paticipant

Question 19

what may have decreased inernal validity of Milgram’s study?

Answer 19

• P’s may have not believed shocks were real and just gone along with it to please experimenter
• may have questioned why P necessary as experimenter could have given shocks
• questioned why experiementer unresponsive to learner’s distress
• may not be a measure of obedience but rather of peopel pretending to obey

Question 20

why does Milgram’s study lack ecological validity?

Answer 20

artificial nature of experiment may mean it doesn’t reflect real life

Question 21

outline Sheridan and King’s procedure

Answer 21

• Ps (students) gave real shock to a puppy in response to orders from an experimenter
• despoite real distress of puppy, 54% of men and 100% of women gave what they thought was a fatal shock
• suggests effects of Milgram’s study were genuine because people obeyed even when shocks were real
• however, extrapolation - people may be less likely to shock a human than an animal

Question 22

why does Milgram’s study lack population validity?

Answer 22

• androcentric and beta biased as only men
• ethnocentric as only white Americans therefore ungeneralisable to other cultures

Question 23

issue of a volunteer sample

Answer 23

certain type may volunteer for a psych experiment therefore findings may only explain behaviour (obedience) in that type of person

Question 24

ethical issues of Milgram’s study

Answer 24

• protection from harm
• deception
• informed consent
• right to withdraw