Milgram

Question 1

Who prompted milgram to complete this study

Answer 1

Adolf Eichmann

Question 2

Who was Adolf Eichmann

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Why did Adolf Eichmann believe he was innocent

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Why did milgram want to carry out his study

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What was the aim of the study

Answer 5

To investigate the process of obedience by testing how far ordinary Americans would go in obeying an authority figure

Question 6

Describe the sample method used

Answer 6

40 males from New Haven
Aged from between 20-50
From a wide range of occupations but no students

Question 7

What type of sample method was used

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Advantages of the sample collected

Answer 8

• range of occupations
• representative of the Germans working in the camps during WW2
• didn’t require training

Question 9

Disadvantages of sample collected

Answer 9

• There may be important gender differences missed
• only new haven residents asked who may have been wealthier
• sample collected was small

Question 10

Advantages of sampling method

Answer 10

• 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

Question 11

Disadvantages of sampling method

Answer 11

• 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

Question 12

Who was Mr Wallace

Answer 12

A confederate acting as a middle aged salesman who is also “taking part” in the research

Question 13

What is a confederate

Answer 13

Someone who behaves as instructed by the researcher

Question 14

What were the quantitative findings

Answer 14

65% of participants socked the learner to 450V
0% left before 300V
14 showed nervous laughter
3 had “full blown uncontrollable seizures”

Question 15

What were the qualitative findings

Answer 15

Participants were observed to “sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan and dig their fingernails into their flesh”

Question 16

What were the quotes taken from participants

Answer 16

• “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”

Question 17

What makes milgrams study a controlled observation

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What conclusions were formed

Answer 18

The situation produce strong tendencies to obey
The situation had caused emotional strain and tension
Germans are not different

Question 19

Why did the participants obey

Answer 19

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

Question 20

Why were the participants stressed

Answer 20

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

Question 21

What were the prods that the experimenter used

Answer 21

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 22

What are the strengths of the observation as a whole

Answer 22

• 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

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of the study as a whole

Answer 23

• 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

Question 24

Where did the study take place

Answer 24

A controlled laboratory in Yale University

Question 25

What percentage of people increased the voltage entirely

Answer 25

65%

Question 26

When was the study published

Answer 26

1963

Question 27

What was the age range of participants

Answer 27

20-50

Question 28

How many people had seizures

Answer 28

3

Question 29

How many candidates did milgram originally want

Answer 29

500

Question 30

How many candidates were collected

Answer 30

40

Question 31

What was the lowest voltage and how much did the shock generator increase by

Answer 31

15V

Question 32

What was the highest voltage on the shock generator

Answer 32

450V

Question 33

What happened at 300V

Answer 33

The first person stopped shocking Mr Wallace due to him banging on the walls and sounding distressed

Question 34

What happened in 1960 and why

Answer 34

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

Question 35

How much were candidates paid as an incentive

Answer 35

$4.50 with car fare

Question 36

When was the study carried out

Answer 36

1962

Question 37

What was the voltage of the test shock given to the candidate

Answer 37

45V

Question 38

How many people showed signs of sweating and nervous laughter

Answer 38

14