Milgram Flashcards
Who prompted milgram to complete this study
Adolf Eichmann
Who was Adolf Eichmann
He was a key player in the implementation of the mass murder of Jewish people during WW2
He was arrested in 1960 and brought to trial in Israel as a war criminal
Why did Adolf Eichmann believe he was innocent
He believed that what he did was not his fault and instead only the fault of the political leaders
He said that he was just being obedient and it was not easy for him to follow the orders that he was given
Why did milgram want to carry out his study
He wanted to test whether Germans were different from other humans or if anyone is capable of being as obedient as the nazis if put in the situation
What was the aim of the study
To investigate the process of obedience by testing how far ordinary Americans would go in obeying an authority figure
Describe the sample method used
40 males from New Haven
Aged from between 20-50
From a wide range of occupations but no students
What type of sample method was used
Self selected sampling
An ad was out in the local paper and sent around by direct mail
An incentive of $4.50 payment was given
Advantages of the sample collected
- range of occupations
- representative of the Germans working in the camps during WW2
- didn’t require training
Disadvantages of sample collected
- There may be important gender differences missed
- only new haven residents asked who may have been wealthier
- sample collected was small
Advantages of sampling method
- easy
- gain consent as people volunteered
- no bias from the researcher
- people who volunteered match standards needed
- volunteers are willing so likely to participate fully
Disadvantages of sampling method
- expensive due to payments
- if people volunteer they are more likely to be more obedient naturally
- time consuming
- limited amount of people as only some got given the ad
Who was Mr Wallace
A confederate acting as a middle aged salesman who is also “taking part” in the research
What is a confederate
Someone who behaves as instructed by the researcher
What were the quantitative findings
65% of participants socked the learner to 450V
0% left before 300V
14 showed nervous laughter
3 had “full blown uncontrollable seizures”
What were the qualitative findings
Participants were observed to “sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their flesh”
What were the quotes taken from participants
- “I think he’s trying to communicate, he’s knocking”
- “well it’s not fair to shock the guy”
- “these are terrific volts. I don’t think this is very humane”
- “oh, I can’t go on with this”
- “he’s banging in there. I’m gonna chicken out. I’d like to continue but I can’t do that to a man”
- “I’m sorry I can’t do that to a man. I’ll hurt his heart. You take your money”
What makes milgrams study a controlled observation
He told the same cover story
They all had a fixed lottery
Mr Wallace’s reactions we’re all played at the same times
They all got the sample shock of 45V
They all had the same shock generator
They all completed the same word pair task
They were all watched through a one way mirror
What conclusions were formed
The situation produce strong tendencies to obey
The situation had caused emotional strain and tension
Germans are not different
Why did the participants obey
The study took place at Yale university
The results would be useful to people
The learner had supposedly volunteered to take part
Because the participant had volunteered and was being paid they felt obliged to continue
Both “participants” ran the risk of being the learner
There was a lack of clarity about what would be classed as overstepping the limits
Participants were told the shocked aren’t dangerous
The researcher was dressed in a lab coat so seemed competent
Why were the participants stressed
The learner was asking them to stop shocking him and banging on the walls
The experimenter kept prodding them to carry on with the study
The participants were unable to meet the demands of both the learner and experimenter which caused them to experience severe emotional strain
What were the prods that the experimenter used
Please continue
The experiment requires that you continue
It is absolutely essential that you continue
You have no other choice you must go on
What are the strengths of the observation as a whole
- very controlled so every patient had the same experience
- the sample was quite diverse in terms of age and occupations so perhaps the results are true for most people
- participants volunteered to take part so we’re willing
- the controls meant nothing else was influencing the result
- they were lied to about what the study was for and so people didn’t alter their behaviour to fit the results the thought were wanted
- the sample were similar to people who would have been officers in WW2
What are the weaknesses of the study as a whole
- it wasnt a very realistic scenario
- people were harmed emotionally and physically (seizures)
- consent was gained for a different study as people were lied to
- only men participated
- only Americans participated
- participants felt they couldn’t leave due to prods and being paid
- they could have been obedient due to the study being carried out at yale or because the way were paid instead of the experimenter
Where did the study take place
A controlled laboratory in Yale University
What percentage of people increased the voltage entirely
65%
When was the study published
1963
What was the age range of participants
20-50
How many people had seizures
3
How many candidates did milgram originally want
500
How many candidates were collected
40
What was the lowest voltage and how much did the shock generator increase by
15V
What was the highest voltage on the shock generator
450V
What happened at 300V
The first person stopped shocking Mr Wallace due to him banging on the walls and sounding distressed
What happened in 1960 and why
Adolf Eichmann went to trial due to being involved in the mass murder of Jews in concentration camps as a part of the Final Solution in WW2
How much were candidates paid as an incentive
$4.50 with car fare
When was the study carried out
1962
What was the voltage of the test shock given to the candidate
45V
How many people showed signs of sweating and nervous laughter
14
