Milgram and variations

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

Following orders from another person, usually someone of authority.

Question 2

What was the aim of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 2

To test the “Germans are different” hypothesis that suggested Hitler could not have committed the holocaust without the unquestioning cooperation of the German population

Question 3

What was the procedure of Milgram’s experiment?

Answer 3

Participants were assigned to the role of the teacher with the learner and the experimenter both being confederates, the experimenter wore a grey lab coat
The experimenter asked the teacher to give electric shocks to the learner every time they got a question wrong, increasing in strength each time
The shocks were actually harmless.
When the teacher hesitated, the experimenter had 4 prods to say, increasing each time.
1 ) Please continue
2) The experiment requires you to continue
3 ) It is absolutely essential you continue
4) You have no other choice but to continue

Question 4

What were the results for Milgram’s study?

Answer 4

All of the participants went to 300v and 65% were willing to go to the max 450v which would have been fatal.
They showed obvious signs of distress; sweating and trembling. 3 had a seizure.
When he did a variation of his study, he had the participants be told orders over the phone and rates dropped to 20.5%

Question 5

What conclusions can be drawn from Milgram’s study?

Answer 5

Ordinary people are willing to obey what they believe to be a figure of authority even when they it causes harm to someone else

Question 6

What are the strengths of Milgram’s research?

Answer 6

Lab experiment - good control of variables and allows for replicability and increased reliability.
Cause and effect relationships can be established
His study added value to social psychology to help explain why the Nazi’s were willing to kill the Jews

Question 7

What is the argument for psychological harm being present in his study?

Answer 7

The participants showed extreme physical reactions, 3 had seizures.
He didn’t debrief all of his participants as he didn’t want word getting out in case it affected future results
Baumrind (1964) accused Milgram of abusing his participants’ feelings and rights

Question 8

What is the argument against psychological harm in his study?

Answer 8

Only 2% of his participants regretted taking part and 74% said they had learned something about themselves
A year later, they were assessed and showed no long term damage
Milgram only predicted 1% would go up to the max voltage

Question 9

What is the argument for deception in his study?

Answer 9

He did deceive his participants - they were told it was about learning and memory
They could not give informed consent

Question 10

What is the argument against deception in his study?

Answer 10

Milgram said the deception was necessary as they would behave differently if they knew they were fake

Question 11

What is the argument for the right to withdraw not being present in his study?

Answer 11

They were given no explicit right to withdraw before they started.
Any attempts to withdraw were met with the prods which encouraged them to continue

Question 12

What is the argument against the right to withdraw not being present in his study?

Answer 12

Milgram argued that they did have the right to withdraw as 35% did and refused to continue

Question 13

What did Orne and Holland (1968) say about internal validity in the study? How is this view then criticised?

Answer 13

They said that the results were because the participants believed them to be fake.
However, 75% said they believed they were real

Question 14

Is there gender bias in his study?

Answer 14

Yes, androcentrism.

Only males were used so the results cannot be generalised to females.

Question 15

What did Sheridan and King find? related to gender bias

Answer 15

They got males and females to give real electric shocks to a puppy every time they responded to a command incorrectly.
They believed that the shocks were increasing each time until the puppy was rendered unconscious with anaesthetic gas, the participants thought they had killed the puppy.
54% of males and 100% of females shocked up to the maximum voltage

Question 16

Is there cultural bias in Milgram’s study?

Answer 16

Yes, ethnocentrism.

It was carried out using American participants so it cannot be generalised to people of other cultures.

Question 17

Is there historical validity in Milgram’s study?

Answer 17

It has been suggested that American culture in the 1960’s was very different to culture today and therefore the results do not reflect today’s society

Question 18

Is there ecological validity in Milgram’s study?

Answer 18

It has been criticised for how unrepresentative it is of a real-life situation

Question 19

What did Burger (2009) do?

Answer 19

A replication of Milgram’s study in a modern society to see if people would still obey

Question 20

What was Burger’s procedure?

Answer 20

He followed Milgram’s procedure but no one with knowledge of Milgram was used and the max shock was 150v.
No one was included who had a history of mental health problems or stress reactions
They were told 3 times they could withdraw at any time
70 male and female participants were used

Question 21

What were the results of Burger’s study?

Answer 21

Found an obedience rate of 70% with no difference between male and female obedience rates.
Another defiant failed to reduce obedience significantly

Question 22

What conclusions can be drawn from Burger’s study?

Answer 22

People will still obey authority, obedience rates have not changed much

Question 23

What are some evaluation points of Burger’s study?

Answer 23

Burger’s technique permits obedience research to be conducted in way that hasn’t been possible for decades
His efforts to improve the ethics of the study are uncertain in their effectiveness and they pose impractical demands
Hard to have a clear comparison of the results due to different procedures

Question 24

What was the aim of Hofling’s study?

Answer 24

To investigate whether nurses would obey orders from an unknown doctor to such an extent that there would be risk of harm

Question 25

What was the procedure of Hofling’s study?

Answer 25

A confederate named Dr. Smith ordered 22 nurses individually to administer 20mg of an unfamiliar drug over the phone to one of their patients.
The doctor said he was in a hurry and would sign a form later on, hospital rules said that they needed to be signed before administration
The label on the box stated that 10mg was the maximum dose

Question 26

What were the findings of Hofling’s study?

Answer 26

21/22 nurses obeyed without hesitation, giving double the max dose.
A control group of 22 nurses were asked what they would do and 21 said they wouldn’t have obeyed without authorisation

Question 27

What conclusions can be drawn from Hofling’s study?

Answer 27

The power and authority of doctors was a greater influence on the nurses’ behaviour than basic hospital rules
What people say they would do and what they actually do are very different

Question 28

What are some evaluation points for Hofling’s study?

Answer 28

Nurses and institutional staff should have special training to follow rules
Relevant to real life? - Rank and Jacobsen reported that the drug was unfamiliar to nurses and that they had not been allowed to consult each other which is not what would happen in a real life situation
Ethical issues - deception