Milgram Flashcards
What was the maximum voltage the learner was shocked with?
450v
What is the AIM of Milgrams study?
To investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person.
Describe Milgrams sample. (3 points)
- 40 participants
- Aged between 20-50
- Recruited from the New Haven area
How was the sample obtained?
Volunteer sampling was used. They were obtained by responding to a newspaper and direct mail advert which asked for volunteers to participate in a study of memory and learning at Yale university.
Who were the 2 confederates?
Experimenter - 31 year old biology teacher JACK WILLIAMS. He wore a technicians coat and appeared stern and emotionless.
Victim - 47 year old accountant MR WALLACE who was mild mannered and likeable.
What was the research method used?
Milgram claimed it was an experiment but it is actually a controlled observation as there is no clear IV and DV
Describe the procedure in detail.
- The study took place in a smart psychology lab at Yale university.
- Each participant was told that the study aimed to see how punishment affected learning. They received $4.50.
- The naive volunteer was introduced to the other ‘participant’ mr Wallace and then the parts of the teacher and learner were drawn. The draw was rigged so the participant always got the role of the teacher and mr wallace the role of the learner.
- The teacher and learner were taken to an adjacent room and in full view of the real participant the learner was strapped into the ‘electric chair’. The experimenter explained the straps were to ‘prevent excessive movement’ while the learner was being shocked. An electrode was attached to the learners wrist and electrode paste was applied ‘to avoid blisters and burns.’
- The participant was told that the electrode was attached to the shock generator in the adjoining room. The participant then heard the experimenter tell the learner ‘although the shocks can be extremely painful they cause no permanent tissue damage.
- To further enhance the authenticity of the generator the participant was given a sample shock of 45v which was actually powered by a 45v battery.
- The teacher reads questions (word pair task) out to the learner who sat in a separate room in front of a 4 way panel to select answers.
- If the teacher expressed a desire to stop delivering the shocks the experimenter had prods to deliver.
What was the learning task?
The participants had to read a series of word pairs to the learner, who was then asked to learn these pairs. The participant then tests the learner by giving him one of the words in a pair along with 4 other pairs. The learner has to then indicate which of the 4 words match with the pair.
What would happen if the participant got the word pair wrong?
The participant would tell the learner the correct answer and the level of punishment in Volts they would receive.
What were the 4 prods?
- Please continue.
- The experiment requires you to continue.
- It is absolutely essential you continue.
- You have no other choice you must go on.
How was the data collected?
They were observed by the experimenter and by additional observers from behind a one way mirror.
The sessions were filmed.
What happened after the experiment?
Participants were fully debriefed using open ended questions and to test that they weren’t harmed a number of psychometric measures were used.
Then participants were reunited with mr Wallace to show that the victim was not harmed
What happened a year after the study?
Participants were interviewed by an independent psychiatrist
Give 4 examples of quantitative findings.
- All 40 participants obeyed up to 300V.
- 65% obeyed up to 450v, 35% disobeyed.
- On a scale of 1-14 of how painful the last shocks were the mean score was 13.42.
- 14 participants defied the experimenter, 26 obeyed.
Give 4 examples of qualitative findings.
- 3 participants had full blown uncontrollable seizures.
- 14 participants had nervous laughing fits.
- Heaved sighs of relief or shook their heads in apparent regret.
- Showed signs of nervousness and tension (sweated, trembled, dug fingernails in flesh)
