Milgram Flashcards
Aim
To test the idea that Germans were different to other people by seeing if American male volunteers obey the order to give electric shocks to innocent people
The learner (confederate)
47 year old American- Irish actor
Introduced as Mr. Wallace
Mild mannered and likeable
The experimenter (confederate)
31 years old
Dressed in lab coat
Would sternly encourage participants to continue with procedure
Sampling type
Volunteer sampling
Sample
40 males aged 20-50
Jobs ranged from unskilled to professional
From the New Haven area
Paid $4.50 for turning up
Where did the study take place?
Yale univeristy
Procedure
- drew straws to determine their roles (fixed)
- learner was strapped to a chair with electrodes.
- learner would learn a list of word pairs
- the teacher tests him by naming a word and asking the learner to recall its partner from a list of four possible choices
- the teacher is told to administer an electric shock every-time the learner makes a mistake- increases by 15 v each time.
- learner gave mainly wrong answers.
- if teacher refused to continue the experimenter gave prompts
Describe the shock generator
- Voltages had categories underneath ranging from ‘slight shock’ to ‘danger’ to ‘XXX’ for the final two volts
- Generator consisted of 30 switches
- Voltages increased by 15 v each from 15- 450 v
Prompts
- Please continue/please go on
- The experiment requires that you continue
- It is absolutely essential that you continue
- You have no other choice - you must go on
- If the participant was still refusing at this point, the study was stopped
What happened at 300V?
Learner went silent (unconscious or dead)
What % of participants went to 300v?
100%
What % of participants went to 450v?
65%(26/40)
Why did participants obey?
- Prestigious nature of Yale Uni
- Learner had volunteered
- Participant had been paid and felt obligated
- Shocks were painful, but not dangerous
2-3 weaknesses about the sample
- Androcentric (only men)
- Ethnocentric (only American’s)
- All from same area (may share characteristics)
Strength of the sample
Participants were volunteers
Reliability of the study?
Very reliable as it can be easily replicated as shown by the multiple variations.
Standardised (pre scripted prompts)
How is this low in validity?
Lacks ecological validity as its a unrealistic setting
What real world events can this be applied to?
The Holocaust
What 3-4 ethical guidelines did the study break
- Participants were deceived (were told it was a memory test)
- Participants did not give informed consent
- It was made difficult for them to withdrawal
- Were not initially protected from mental harm
What ethical guidelines did it uphold
- Participants were extensively debriefed
- Participants were kept confidential
Can you explain why Milligram was ok to break the guidelines
If the participants knew what the study was about/ that it was fake it would create demand characteristic and they wouldn’t act naturally
