milgram

Question 1

aim

Answer 1

• aimed to investigate the levels of obedience when individuals were instructed by an experimenter to deliver electric shocks to a learner up to 450V
• experiment the ‘ germans are different’ hypothesis
• see if Yale students estimated the correct level of obedience only 0-3% obey up to 450V

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

weakness- lacks generalisability 40 males aged 20-50 from new haven, America- not representative of other cultures, genders, age groups etc and how they would obey authority

strength- although of the 40 men had varying occupations e.g.
-engineer
-teacher
-salesman
more represnetive of different kinds of people and how they would react to obeying an authority figure

Question 3

procedure

Answer 3

high standardised procedure
- ppts ‘picked out of a hat’ to be the teacher and the confederate as the learner
- ppts shown the learner being strapped into the harness and a sample electric shock was given to the teachers 45 V
-then the procedure explained to teacher that they must deliver electric shocks if the learner answered incorrectly to the word task
- increased voltage by 15v each time
- 4 prods e.g. ‘ please continue ‘ ‘ its absolutely essential that you continue’ given when the ppt asked to withdraw
- pre recorded tape at 300v of a loud bang and at 315v learner no longer responded

therefore highly reliable, can be replicated to test for consistency of how individuals will respond to orders of authority

Question 4

procedure point 2

Answer 4

lacks eco and task validity low eco validity and mundane realism cant neccisaruly relate findings to real life as may not respond the same way

although huffing carried out a similar study - field study where an unknown doctor instructed nurses to deliver dangerous doses of medication to patients- 21/22 obeyed, demonstarting that people are likey to obey authority even if they know its not right which relates to milgrams findings- adding reliability and credibility

Question 5

results and conclusion

Answer 5

although milgrams study was very unethical, he found that ppt that exceeded to the 450v volt level experienced signs of anxiety and stress such as sweating, trembling, stuttered speech and one individual had a serixure to the extent that the study had to come to a halt. this breaches BPS guidelines as its not protectiong against pshycholigca and physical harm, a questionnaire was a slo sent out to ppts months after the study and 2% stated they were unhappy with their involvement within the study which is not ethical. although perhaps the costs could be justified by the benefits and results the study arrises. milligram found that 65% exceeded to the 450V level and 100% to 300V demonstarting that we can be easily influenced and obey authority which removes the stigma that its just germans when in fact it can be anyone which. helps us understand that we must be careful to avoid malicious authority from using obedience in a negative way.