Milgram (1963) Classic Flashcards
What was the aim of the study?
To investigate the tendency for destructive obedience
How many participants are there?
40 male participants
What role did the participants take?
Teacher
What did the the teacher do?
Give what we’re thought to be painful shocks to the to the learner ( who was believed to be a fellow participant )
What was the max voltage?
450V
How much did the shocks increase by each time?
15V
What percentage of participants gave at least 300V?
100%
What percentage gave the full 450V?
65%
Signs of what were displayed when giving the shocks?
Shock
What were the conclusions?
People are surprisingly obedient to orders given by a person of authority
They become distressed when obeying orders to hurt another person
What was the research method?
Lab experiment
Data
Both quantitate and qualitative
Ethical concerns
Caused distress
No informed consent
Patients deceived
Validity
It can be argued that milgrams study is low in ecological validity but milgram was clever in selecting both an environment and a task that represents the features that atrocities take place
How did it represent some of the features of atrocities?
List 2
Situation was respectable
Experimenter in legitimate position of authority
Experimenter wore lab coat as visible mark of authority
Told it was for the advancement of science- noble aim
When leaders commit atrocities they generally claim they are for the good of the country
Shocks increase a small bit at a time, each decision to obey was only a slight move from the one before, ‘slippery slope’ people are on when told to act aggressively in real life atrocities
