milgram (obedience) Flashcards
background
Milgram believed that extreme obedience, like the systematic murders carried out by the Nazis during WWII, was only specific to a very large number who carry out orders and wouldn’t show in individuals.
aim
To test the hypothesis that obeying orders to kill another human was specific to extreme obedience and that it wouldn’t happen again - specifically, U.S. citizens in the 1960s to administer electric shock to others.
method
Lab experiment with minor questionnaire, interview, and observation.
IV & DV
IV - there is no IV in this study, but some argue the command to obey is the IV.
DV - called the dependent measure, it’s the maximum shock administered before the refusal to go any further.
how was the sample collected
volunteer/self-selecting
An advertisement was placed in a newspaper for a study on “learning and memory” and that starting pay would be $4.50 and would be paid regardless of the outcome. New Haven, CT (Yale)
participants
Participants - 40 males, aged 20-50, wide range of occupations including postal clerks, high school teachers, salesmen, engineers, and laborers; wide range of educational levels including not finished elementary school to doctorate.
Who was the experimenter?
an actor to help in the implementation of the procedure. He was a 31-year-old high school biology teacher dressed in a grey technicians coat.
How was the stooge used to deceive?
- Choice of role (teacher or learner) was “random” because stooge was always the learner.
- Stooge attachment to shock generator was “genuine.”
- Stooge was telling the “truth” and had a heart condition.
- Oohs and aahs and screams from stooge were “genuine.”
How was the deception controlled?
- AIM- deception: “learning and memory;” actual - obedience to cause harm.
- Stooge/Experimenter - neither are what they appear to be.
- Random drawing of “teacher/learner,” it was fixed.
- Entire apparatus set-up, didn’t provide unsafe shocks.
- Stooge’s actions - pounding and sounds made it sound like he was hurting.
procedure
- There was a general intro by the experimenter about punishment and learning to both the participant and the stooge.
- They would “select” which one was a teacher and which one was a learner.
- Both were taken into the next room, the learner was strapped down, the wire connected to the wrist, and an initial 45v shock was given.
- The teacher read out word pairs and the learner responded by pressing a button so it was displayed on a screen in the teaching room.
- If the learner was right, they’d move to the next pair, but if the learner got it wrong (was done deliberately) the teacher would shock the learner.
- The learning progressed by 15v increments and this would continue unless the teacher needed a ‘prod.’
- Study progressed until either prods were done and the teacher refused or they reached the volt max.
- Teacher/participant was given an interview and a debriefing of the true AIM of the study (ethical)
When did the experimenter give a prod?
Whenever the teacher began to question whether they should shock the learner, the experimenter gave a ‘prod.’
Describe the post-experiment interview.
- All the participants were given a post-experiment interview with a questionnaire where they were asked on a 14-point, how painful were the shocks to the learner. The mean rating was 13.42 or “extremely painful.”
- The participant was then told of the true nature of the study and were given a friendly reconciliation period with the stooge so the participant would leave with no long-term issues.
quantitative data
the breakoff points of when the participants or experimenter stopped the study
qualitative data
- Qualitative data - while there isn’t a true recording of qualitative data, Milgram does mention the physical state of many of the participants in completing the shocking task.
- Including: sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groan, dig their fingers into themselves, seizures, and 14 of 40 showed fits of nervous laughter and smiling.
List the 6 findings.
- All participants gave shocks up to and including 300v.
- 5 of 40 withdrew at 300v.
- 4 of 40 withdrew at 315v.
- 2 of 40 withdrew at 330v.
- 1 of 40 withdrew at 345v, 1 of 40 withdrew at 360v, and 1 of 40 withdrew at 375v.
- 26 participants went to the full 450v.
