Milgram method & aim - obedience Flashcards
What was the aim?
to see if individuals would obey the orders of an authority figure that incurred negative consequences
How many students?
40 American males aged 20-50 at Yale Uni
What did participants respond to?
an advert to volunteer for a study of memory
Who were they met by?
confederate experimenter wearing a grey lab coat
Who was Mr Wallace?
a confederate participant who was the learner
What were participants told?
the experiment concerned effects of punishment on learning and would either be teacher or student
What was Mr Wallace?
always the student
What did the experimenter explain?
-punishments involved electric shocks
What did the teacher get told to do?
to give a shock through the shock generator, which ranged from 15-450 volts, every time an answer was wrong
What did the real participant receive?
a 45 volt shock to show it was authentic
What did participants read out?
series of paired-associated tasks to which they received a pre-recorded series of verbal answers
What happened at 150 volts?
Mr Wallace protested and demanded to be released
What happened at 300 volts?
he refused to answer any more questions and said he had heart problems
What happened at 315 volts?
he screamed loudly and at 330 volts he was heard no more
