Milgram Experiment Flashcards
What was the aim of this experiment?
To investigate whether Germans were obedient to authority figures as this was a common explanation for the Nazi killings in WW2.
What did this experiment measure?
It measured the willingness to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that
What were the 3 roles in this experiment?
The experimenter ( confederate in a white lab coat)
The participant ( the teacher)
The Shockee ( confederate)
What did the newspaper ad state?
The experiment was testing the effects of negative punishment on learning.
Who were the participants and how many were there?
Forty, 20-50 year old men
How much were the participants paid?
$4 an hour
How did the participants decide who would be the learned and who would be the teacher?
Draw straws, however it was a fix and the participant was always the teacher.
What were the questions that were asked?
The teacher had to read out word pairs such e.g green grass or blue sky. The teacher would then read out one half of the pair match and the learner has to say the other half of the pair.
What happened if the learner got the wrong answer?
They would get shocked ranging from 15v to 450v going up in 15 increments.
Give some experimenter prods
“Please continue”
“Please go on”
“It is essential that you continue”
When did the learner remain silent?
After 300v
What % of participants went to 450v?
65%
How many participants stopped early?
14
How many participants continued and may have killed mr Wallace
26
What was the conclusion for the experiment?
That explanations of why we obey can be explained by perceived legitimate authority, graduated commitment and agentic state.
