Milgram's baseline study

Question 1

how many people took part?

Answer 1

40 men

Question 2

what was the age range of the ppts ?

Answer 2

20-50

Question 3

what was the interval gap of the the voltages ?

Answer 3

15 v

Question 4

were there any real shocks administered ?

Answer 4

yes, one 45v shock given to the teacher to prove to them that the shocks were reals, even though they were not.

Question 5

what was the range of shock ?

Answer 5

15v-450v

Question 6

what percentage of ppts went to 300 v?

Answer 6

100%

Question 7

what percentage went to 450v (lethal dose)?

Answer 7

65 %

Question 8

what percentage of ppts dropped out after 300v?

Answer 8

12.5%

Question 9

what did milgram conclude ?

Answer 9

he concluded that the average American was willing to hurt an individual because a legitimate authority told them to

Question 10

give an example of a standardised prompt

Answer 10

“the experiment requires you to continue”

Question 11

give three strengths of the experiment

Answer 11

1) it was standardised
2) the ppt saw the confederate being attached to the electrodes
3) the experiment was filmed to give richer details

Question 12

give four weaknesses to the experiment

Answer 12

1) it was androcentric and they were all white
2) the ppts may have only been going along with the shocks because they knew they weren’t real - Orne and Holland claimed that there was some film footage showing the ppts’ suspicions, therefore we have to question the internal validity of the finding
3) behaviour of the ppts is subjective and can be interpreted in different ways, e.g nervous laughter
4) the ppts could have known they were being filmed, causing social desirability and therefore invalid results