Milgram (obedience)

Question 1

What are the assumptions of the social approach

Answer 1

1) Behaviour , emotions and cognitions can be influenced by other individuals

2)Behaviour , emotions and cognitions can be influenced by groups or social contexts

Question 2

What is the psychology being investigated in the study by Milgram

Answer 2

1)Destructive obedience
2)Situational hypothesis
3)Dispositional hypothesis
4)Germans are different hypothesis

Question 3

what is destructive obedience

Answer 3

this is the idea that we often follow orders from an authority figure without questioning even when it involves harming others

Question 4

what is situational hypothesis

Answer 4

this is the idea that we find ourselves in situations that we cannot extricate ourselves from and we end up acting against our conscious

Question 5

What is dispositional hypothesis

Answer 5

this is the idea that our behaviour is largely due to our character traits

Question 6

What is the Germans are different hypothesis

Answer 6

This is the idea that germans have a character defect that make them more obedient than the average american

Question 7

Describe the sample in Milgram (obedience)

Answer 7

• 40 males
  -Age range of 20-50 yrs
  -Recruited from New Haven area and the surrounding community
• They were obtained from a newspaper advert asking for volunteers for a study of memory
  -They were paid $45 for coming
  -The sample had a wide range of occupations ; -Salesmen
  - Cobblers
  - Labourers
  - Highschool teacher
  - engineers

Question 8

Describe the experimenter from the study by Milgram

Answer 8

the role was played by a 31yr old high school biology teacher

He was called “Mr William”

his manner was impassive and his appearance was stern throughout the experiment
he is dressed in a grey lab coat

Question 9

Describe the Confederate from the study by Milgram

Answer 9

The role was played by a 47 year old accountant
Has been trained for the role

He was of irish American decent

Most observers found him mild mannered and likeable

He was called “Mr Wallace”

He was a stooge and played the role of the learner

Question 10

What is the aim in the study by Milgram

Answer 10

1) to investigate how obedient individuals would be to orders given by a person in authority

2) To investigate whether ppl would show obedience even when it involved harming another person

Question 11

What is the background of the study by Milgram

Answer 11

11 million people were gruesomely killed by Nazis. Milgram being Jewish sought to find if anyone under a similar situation would harm or murder others under an authoritative figure’s orders.
Milgram suggested a situational explanation for obedience.
Milgram had conferred with his psychology students and colleagues, and they predicted that less than 3% of participants would deliver the maximum voltage shock of 450 volts

Question 12

What was the false aim given to the ss in the study by Milgram

Answer 12

to investigate the effect of punishment on learning

Question 13

What was the pretext used to justify the aim in the study by Milgram

Answer 13

“we know very little about the effect of punishment on learning
because almost no truly scientific studies have been made for it on human beings.
we do not know how much punishment is best for learning and we do not know how much difference it makes as to who is giving the punishment.

whether an adult learns better from a younger or older person than himself or many things of that sort

For this study we are bringing together a number of adults of different occupations and ages and totest this out

we want to find out what effect people have on each other as students and teachers and what effect punishment will have on learning in this situation.

therefore both of you can decide if you want to be a teacher or learner.

does either of you have a preference? “

Question 14

What is the experimental method in the study by milgram

Answer 14

Controlled observation because the context was changed in order to observe obedience

Question 15

How were the roles assigned in the study by Milgram

Answer 15

Mr wallace and the ss selected their roles from a hat with two papers.

The experimenter told them that they both had a fair chance of being either the teacher or learner.

However the drawing had been rigged and both papers were written “teacher”

Question 16

Describe what happened in the study by Milgram after role picking

Answer 16

The ss and Mr Wallace were taken to an adjacent room and mr wallace was strapped in an electric chair apparatus \

The experimenter explained that the straps were to prevent excessive movement and make it impossible for the learner to leave the situation

An electrode was attached to the learners wrist and an electrode paste was applied to “avoid blisters”

Subjects were told that the electrodes were attached to the shock generator in the adjacent room

The learner was told, “Although the shocks can be extremely painful, they cause no tissue damage”.
the participant was given a sample shock of 45 volts (from an external battery since the shock-generator wasn’t supposed to work).

Question 17

Describe the shock generator used in the study by Milgram

Answer 17

-It consisted of 30 lever switches

-Each switch was clearly labelled with a voltage designation from 15v to 450v

• From one switch to another was a 15 volt increment

-Every group of 4 switches had a verbal designation

Question 18

What were the 8 voltage levels on the shock generator

Answer 18

slight shock
moderate shock
strong shock
very strong shock
intense shock
extreme intensity shock
danger : severe shock
xxx

Question 19

What happened after pressing a switch in the study by Milgram

Answer 19

a pilot light corresponding to each switch is illuminated in bright red
an electric buzzing is heard
an electric blue light labelled “voltage energizer” flashes
The dial on the voltage meter swings to the right

Question 20

Describe the learning task in the study by Milgram

Answer 20

the teacher read word pairs to the learner , and the learner had to memorize these pairs.
The teacher then read the first word of the pairs along with four other words.
the learner had to correctly identify which of the four words was originally paired with the 1st word.
if the answer was correct then the teacher moved on to the next word on the list.
if it was wrong the teacher stated the correct word then administered an electric shock starting from 15v.

Question 21

In the study by Milgram the teacher was given a sample shock.
Describe this procedure

Answer 21

Each ss was given a sample shock before beginning his role as a teacher.
The shock was 45v
The shock was applied to the wrist and the source was a 45v battery attached to the shock generator.

Question 22

What were the shock instructions given to the teacher in the study by Milgram

Answer 22

The ss was told to administer a shock to the learner each time he gave a wrong response
The ss was instructed to move one level higher on the shock generator each time the learner gave a wrong answer.
The ss was told to announce the voltage level before administering a shock

Question 23

How was the learner trained to answer the questions asked by the teacher in the study by Milgram

Answer 23

The learner gave a predetermined set of responses to the learning task
He was trained to give 3 wrong answer for every correct answer.

Question 24

What were the prods administered by the experimenter in the study by Milgram

Answer 24

1)”Please go on”
2)”The experiment requires that you go on”
3)”It’s absolutely essential that you go on”
4)”You have no other choice but to continue”

Question 25

What would happen if the subject refused to obey the experimenter after the 4th prod

Answer 25

The experiment would be terminated and the ss would be classified as defiant

Question 26

What would happen at 300v in the study by Milgram

Answer 26

at 300v the learner would start hitting the wall and shouting.He stopped answering questions.
here the ss usually looked at the experimenter for guidance. The ss is instructed to treat the absence of a response as a wrong answer and to shock the learner using the usual schedule.
The ss was also told to wait 5-10 seconds before doing this
The learners pounding continued at 315v after that he went completely silent.

Question 27

What were the special prods used in the study by milgram and when were they used

Answer 27

Prod 1;
used if the ss claimed that the learner was liable to suffer to permanent tissue damage

“Although the shocks may be painful they do not cause any permanent damage, so please go on”
followed by prods 2,3 and 4 where necessary.

Prod 2;
Used if the subject said that the learner did not wish to continue

“Whether the learner likes it or not you must continue with the experiment until he has learnt all the word pairs correctly , so please go on”
followed by prods 2 , 3 and 4 where necessary.

Question 28

Milgram asked 14 Yale seniors all psych majors what it would be like if 100 hypothetical subjects were exposed to the procedure
what did they say?

Answer 28

All the respondents predicted that only a insignificant minority will go to the end of the shock series.

Question 29

Milgram also asked a similar question to his colleague , what was their response?

Answer 29

they believed that few if any ss would go beyond the designation very strong shock

Question 30

What was the De hoax procedure - How did Milgram explain deception

Answer 30

Subjects were interviewed open questions projective tests and attitude tests were used
A friendly reconciliation was arranged between the ss and Mr Wallace

Psychological support was arranged to ensure that the subject left the lab in a state of well being

Question 31

How was data obtained in the Study by Milgram

Answer 31

-Experimental sessions were recorded on a magnetic tape.
-Occasional photos were taken through one way mirrors
-Notes were kept on unusual behaviour during the experiment

Question 32

Subjects were asked after the procedure how painful they thought the shocks were from a scale of 1-14.
What were the subjects response

Answer 32

The model response was 14 meaning that most participants believed in the authenticity of the shocks

Question 33

What were the signs of nervous tension that the ss in the study by Milgram displayed

Answer 33

-sweat profusely
-Groan
-Bite their lips
-Dig their fingernails into their flesh
-Tremble
-stutter
-Nervous laughing fits
-3 ss showed signs of full blown seizures

Question 34

How far did the subjects reach in terms of switches in the study by Milgram

Answer 34

All subjects pressed the 20th switch - they went up to 300v
5 dropped out after 300
4 dropped out after 315
2 dropped out after 330v
1 dropped out after 345v

Question 35

What were the subjects comments in the study by Milgram

Answer 35

“he is banging in there , i’m going to chicken out.id like to continue but i can’t do that to a man.im sorry i can’t do that to a man. i’ll hurt his heart”

“I think he is trying to communicate , he is knocking. Well it’s not fair to shock the guy. These are terrific volts. I don’t think this is very humane , it’s a hell of an experiment.

Question 36

What were the general results in the study by Milgram (contain number data)

Answer 36

-65% of the ss were obedient
-35% were defiant

Question 37

What are the strengths in the study by Milgram

Answer 37

1)High reliability
2)High in validity
3)Clear operationalization of the measures
4)Generalisability

Question 38

What are the weaknesses in the study by Milgram

Answer 38

1)Low generalisability
2)Ethics
3)Low ecological validity
4)Low mundane realism

Question 39

What is the conclusion in the Study by Milgram

Answer 39

Individuals are much more obedient to authority than we might reasonably expect
this seems to be true for majority of people.
Despite high level of obedience people find the experience of carrying out destructive acts under the orders of authority figures triggering feelings of distress