Milgram Case study (1963)

Question 1

Aim

Answer 1

• investigate the level of obedience when told by a authority figure to
  give electric shocks
• investigate ‘Germans are different hypothesis’( assumption they obeyed
  because of blind obedience not because of who they were)

Question 2

sample

Answer 2

• 40 men (between 20-50)
• from new haven area of America. consistent of
  postal clerks, high school teacher salesman, engineers and labourers
• education = not finishing elementary school to having completed
  their doctorate and other professional degree

Question 3

what was the participant told about the payment

Answer 3

• received $4.50 for turning up and can

leave without having the money taken off them

Question 4

how was the roles of teacher/student decided?

Answer 4

• 2 pieces of paper (believed to have teacher/
  student) and given out randomly

*but actor was always was student and participant the teacher as
in actuality both pieces of paper had teacher on it and the actor just lied getting the
paper with student on it

Question 5

what were the labels on the shock generator?

Answer 5

• slight shock,
• moderate shock,
• strong shock,
• very strong shock,
• intense shock,
• extreme intense shock,
• danger: severe shock,
• XXX

Question 6

Describe the procedure (*task)

Answer 6

1. actor was strapped in a chair with electrodes attached to them but also electrode paste was added on the actors wrist to prevent blisters and burns
2. given a stimulate shock = 45V
3. the task was to read a series of word pairs to the learner then read 1 word from the pair with 3 different
   words that could be the answer then the learners needs to indicate which 1 of the 4 goes with
   that pair by switching the switches in front of them (these should be symmetrical to the order the teacher spoke it out)
4. if wrong = electric shock (each wrong answer = 15V increments)
   subject needs follow the rule above /^/ and announce the voltage level before administrating
5. full debrief was given and participants were informed their behaviour was normal in this given situation + included meeting the actor to reset their emotional state so it was the same as they entered the building
6. Questionnaires were given months after as a post check up (84% said they were happy to have taken part and learnt something important about themselves, only 2% were unhappy about their part in the study)

Question 7

what are some of the words prompts used by the experimenter?

• what happens when the experimenter reaches the 4th prompt without the participant changing their minds

Answer 7

• please continue/ please go on, is is absolutely essential that you
  continue, the experiment requires that you continue, you have no other choice you must go on
• test is terminated

Question 8

Results

Results - Qualitative data

Answer 8

• 26 out of 40 went up to 450 volts (65%)
• All participants went up to 300 volts
• 5 refused after 300 volts

when participant laughed or went to max showed signs of sweating,
extreme stress, trembling, stuttered speech, dug finger nails into the palms of their hands
14/40 = laughed
3 uncontrolled able seizures was shown

Question 9

CONC.

Answer 9

Milgram concluded the reason for obedience was due to:

• It took place at Yale University and so was seen as very prestigious
• It was designed to look like a worthy purpose, advance knowledge in understand of learning processes
• The learner was viewed as another participant, therefore could leave
• Obligation felt by the participant not to ruin the study by leaving
• Reluctance for participants to challenge the experimenter as they were alone in an
  unusual setting and the experimenter is a professional therefore knows what he is doing
• Participants were told the shocks were painful but not dangerous, and also the increase wasn’t that much therefore did not seem that bad to increase the shock
• Seen as a fair experiment, participant and stooge both drew lots at the start so both had an equal chance of being teacher or learner.

Question 10

Strengths

Answer 10

• high generalisability as the sample contained a range of ages to occupational background and educational background *therefore its able to represent wider society hence results are relevant
• study contained a standardised procedure as the actors was always the same throughout the 40 candidates to the introduction and the tape recording of pre-recorded lines. the prompts used was always used in the same order from “please continue” to “you have no choice, you must continue” and used only whenever the participant shows signs of refusal to continue also the increments of the voltage was always the same 15V whenever the students gets the wrong answer *therefore the test is able to replicated for others to test the results for its reliability
• studies results contains high reliability. Milgram found that 65% was obedient going to the max volts 450V, Burger replicated Milgram’s test on modern society and found out nothing has changes that are of significance as 70% was obedient furthermore Hofling test on nurses was 21/22 with having the similarity of Milgram by all wearing some sort of coat to show their authority *therefore the concurring results are able to make more accurate predictions for useful application to society
• contains objective data. the quantitative data being collected such as only 26/40 went to 450V, 5 stopped at 300V but 9 did go up to 300V but not to 450V also 14/40 showed signs of nervous laughter *therefore the un-bias collection of data shows strong validity
• high control over variables. the procedure for each participant was kept consistent to the prior test as each participant saw the same labels on generator, prompts being used and increasing whenever the subject shows sign of refusal, stimulate shock of45V and the what they heard through the recording as the they slowly come closer to 450V *therefore a clear cause and effect was shown but also by demonstrating competence in its field it increases scientific credibility
• increased validity as the sample shock that was administrated before the test started coupled with the fact that the questionnaire they had to fill out resulting in 80% though the shocks was real helped and the 35% that stopped before 450V as they did though the shocks was real helped reduce demand characteristics *therefore this ensures that natural reactions are mainly shown hence the results is able to used in the future *however the test was at Yale university and that whenever the participant refused to go on or when the victim is clearly showing signs of anguish the experimenter always showed the same emotionless and passive answer hence increase the risk of demand characteristics
• has good application onto society as the conclusion: the 65% then went to 450V was due to them being a specific situation which had a visible symbol authority figures like police or high vis jackets demanding them to see it through, it then helps us understand the atrocities that happened during the holocaust *therefore knowing the cause, society now knows how to prevent it from happening again but also open the eyes of the modern military today that soldiers need to have an independent behaviour when being exposed to someone’s human rights being violated

Question 11

Weakness

Answer 11

• weakened generalisability as the sample only contained men hence unable to explain the obedience in women *therefore its unable represent the obedience of half the worlds population * however Milgram did conduct an experiment later on and the results was that 65% of women would go to max volts
• lower generalisability as test used volunteer sample which can be a bias sample but also the method to retrieve the sample was through email hence didn’t take into consideration of people that read the newspaper *therefore the participants are more willing to comply hence unable to show their natural reaction *however since they subjects are willing to come and conduct the experiment they have already given their consent which gives the study contain high ethics
• low ecological validity as the setting is too controlled. it was a lab experiment which had the presence of the experimenter being always being present why only being in the same quiet room being observed but also the events that took place are only the things that Milgram is making public *therefore unable to present the actual natural events taking place in a natural environment
• low mundane realism as normally when trying to complete a task being shocked isn’t a normal occurrence. Hofling supports this as out of the 22 nurses, 21 obeyed in their work setting (hospital) furthermore the task that Hofling chose to observe is a typical task for nurses to give the patients their necessary doses *therefore this shows how despite milgram having low external validity, hofling s still found similar results supporting the validity of milgram’s conclusions.
• weakened internal validity. experimenter didn’t take into consideration of those that could be sensitive to the task due to them seeing or felt the same experience before, for example the 2 war veterans of WW2 wouldn’t administrate the shock. *therefore its unable to control a confounding variable hence unable to show clear cause and effect
• Milgram deceived his participant by having pre-recorded voice lines of the student pretending to be shocked and in agony, the student was an actor, didn’t give a clear goal that they was trying to test, roles was fixed having the teacher always the participant and pain was fake. Milgram also didn’t consider that some of the participant would show extreme reactions towards the fake pain as some had uncontrollable seizures and was shaking, sweating. Furthermore Milgram didn’t consistently tell the participant that they are to leave anytime they want but actually tried to peer pressure them from leaving as he used the 4 prompts from to do so *therefore this demonstrate a clear lack of competence hence results are unable to be released to the pubic and becoming valid *however Milgram stated that presumptive consent given as its a volunteer sample thus deception being used can be reasoned as necessary to control the demand characteristics that could possibly appear
• for this chunk of ethics PEE you can add as a *Contrasting point that Milgram did fully debrief them at the end, gave a questionnaire at the end to see if they think the shocks was real and to check their mental state in addition to another one given months later for the same reason to double check nothing abnormal popped up **if you decide to sperate some of the *Evidence/Point up