Milgram Original 1963 Flashcards
Milgram Original 1963
Aim
To investigate levels of obedience when told by an authority figure to give electric shocks
To investigate the “Germans are different” hypothesis which is the assumptions at the Nazis obey the extermination orders because of blind obedience and not because that was just who they were
Milgram Original 1963
Generalisability - Adrocentric and ethnocentric
Milligrams original study’s sample that contained 40 men, aged 20 to 50 in various occupational backgrounds from the New Haven area in the USA, names with milligram study cannot be generalized to the whole population due to the study consisting only of men and therefore is androcentric
and due to them all coming from New Haven USA it is also ethnocentric
the combination of these two factors means that the results that there is a high level of obedience from orders of an authority figure (65% obeyed to 450v) cannot be applied to other cultures and women
giving it low generalisability to the whole population
Milgram Original 1963
+ test retest reliability
The study had a standardized procedure due to both a confederate and the participants drawing rolls out of a box from a paper slip of which both contained the teacher role
When he strapped the learner confederate to the chair and the electrodes and gave a demonstration of the shock
Then the teachers taken to a separate room when they were showed the controls with voltages being labeled from 15 - 450 volts with 15v “slight shock” and 450 volts being labeled xxx
Word pairs were read out to be memorized and then the learner was tested on them and had to find the correct word pair out of a given list of four words
Each time the learner got a word pair wrong the teacher stated the voltage and shocked the participants then increase the voltage by 15 V and the voltage went up to 450v by the end of the study
If a participant refused to continue the first of four prompts was given by the experimenter and if they still refused the rest of the prompts were given in order the prompts are as followed:
Please continue please go on
it is absolutely essential that you continue
the experiment requires that you continue
you have no other choice you must go on
Once all four of the prompt had been said and the participants still refuses the experiment ends
Due to the standardised procedure milgram’s study is easily replicatable as it was done so by milgram himself in his variations with only minor changes and burger in 2009 with some slight ethical adjustments
This therefore gives the study high test retest reliability
Milgram Original 1963
unethical (deseption, privacy, withdraw)
Milligram study was highly in ethical this is due to deception in which he made participants believed that they were actually harming the learner when in fact the shocks were fake while he did a debrief afterwards they’re still may have been lasting psychological damage over the experience
He also filmed without the participants consent this is therefore a breach of their privacy
Due to the four prompts given by the experimenter the participant may not have felt that they had the right to withdraw this is therefore another breach of BPS ethical guidelines
Due to these breeches of ethical guidelines millgram’s study is considered to be highly unethical
Milgram Original 1963
+high internal validity (deception demand characteristics)
Milligram Study has a high internal validity
this is due to him using the tactic of deception to hide the studies true intentions from the participants
as if they knew that the study was about obedience and not memory and learning
they may have shown demand characteristics such as purposefully not obeying the experimenter
this would have produced invalid results so by milgram deceiving the participants he has prevented this extraneous variable
therefore giving the study overall high internal validity
Milgram Original 1963
conclusion and application (uniform)
Milligram concluded that participants had increased levels of obedience when ordered to do a task by an authority figure
He concluded this from his results that 65% of all participants shocked the learner to 450v and 100% of participants shocked the learner to 300v
He believe that they did this due to factors such as it taking place in the prestigious yale University and the fact that the experimenters Wore a lab coat
both of these factors made the research seem legitimate and prestigious
and therefore the participants were more likely to obey as they did not question the study, nor the experimenters authority
Aplication:
Due to the participants obedience being found be affected by perceived authority this can be applied to situations that require obedience such as the military or a school as the person in charge either the general or a teacher can wear a uniform and this will increase their perceived legitimate authority and therefore there will be an increase in obedience in that setting
Milgram Original 1963
evaluate order
Aim ( investigative level of obedience of authority figures commanding participants to give an electric shock)
-generalisability (ethnocentric androcentric)
+test retest reliability ( draw paper, rest, show when get word pair wrong out of a list of 4 words, say v and shock +15v , 4 prompts, to 450v)
-ethics (deception, privacy, debreif, halm and withdraw)
+internal validity (deception)
conclusion (65% 450v due to perceived authority, uniform, yale uni)
aplication: uniform = ^ obedience
