Milgram's Research into Obedience (AO1) Flashcards

1
Q

What is Conformity?

A

Yielding to group pressure - don’t necessarily have to be asked to do so

Change in behaviour/beliefs to that of another social group

We do it to be liked/accepted (NSI) or bc we think others have more knowledge (ISI)

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2
Q

What is Obedience?

A

Changing behaviour to meet the demands of an authority figure - asked to do so

We do it to avoid punishment or unpleasant consequences

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3
Q

What was the Aim of Milgram’s shock experiment?

A

to see how far will ordinary people go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another person

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4
Q

Electric Shock Experiment: Participants

A
  • recruited 40 male ppts aged 20-50 in a variety of professions via a newspaper advert
  • offered $4.50 to take part + were told it was for a study of memory
  • when they arrived took part in a rigged draw to decide their role
  • naive ppt was always the ‘teacher’
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5
Q

Electric Shock Experiment: Procedure

A
  • ppt is shown learner in an chair w a real elec shock
  • teacher was required to give the learner an increasingly severe elec shock every time they made an error on a fake memory test
  • teacher would hear the learner screaming in pain from the next room until 300V where they gave no further response
  • experimenter would repeatedly use prods to encourage them (please go on, the experiment requires you to continue)
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6
Q

Electric Shock Experiment: Findings

A
  • 65% of ppts continued to 450V
  • 100% of ppts continued to 300V
  • many ppts showed signs of extreme tension (sweating, trembling, stuttering + 3 had seizures)
  • prior to the study psych students estimated no more than 3% would continue to 450V
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7
Q

Electric Shock Experiment: Conclusions

A
  • various aspects of the situation may have influenced ppt behaviour (formal setting, prods given by experimenter, fact they were getting paid)
  • obedience to authority is ingrained in all of us from childhood, so ppl obey if they see the authority as legitimate
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