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Edexcel A-Level Social Psychology > Milgram's studies > Flashcards

Milgram's studies Flashcards

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1
Q

What were the aims of Milgram’s (1963) original study?

A
  • To investigate how obedient naïve ppts would be when ordered to give increasingly intense electric shocks by an authority figure.
  • To test the idea that Germans were different when they carried out order to persecute Jews during the Holocaust.
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2
Q

What sampling method did Milgram use for the original study?

A
  • Voluntary

- Advert in a local newspaper

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3
Q

Describe the sample for Milgram’s original Study

A

40 White males from New Haven
Ages between 20 - 50
Varying backgrounds

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4
Q

Where did the original Milgram study take place?

A

Yale University

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5
Q

Who did the ppts meet in Milgram’s original study?

A

The ‘experimenter’ (a confederate)

‘Mr Wallace’ (a confederate)

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6
Q

What were they told the original Milgram study was collecting data for?

A

To see the effect of punishment on learning

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7
Q

What role did the ppts always play and how was this picked in the original study?

A
  • Teacher

- They drew slips of paper, but this was rigged so they’d always pick teacher and Mr Wallace would always be the learner

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8
Q

What did they do to convince the ppts the shock was real?

A
  • They gave the ppts a sample shock at 45v

- Mr Wallace was never actually shocked

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9
Q

What did the ppts have to do in Milgram’s Studies?

A
  • Ask Mr Wallace a list of word pair questions

- Every time he got one wrong they had to administer an electric shock increasing in 15v intervals

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10
Q

How did Mr Wallace react up to 75v? Similar reactions were shown for 90v and 150v.

A
  • No indications that the shocks were causing distress

- A little grunt

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11
Q

What did Mr Wallace do at 120v?

A

Shouted that the shocks were becoming painful

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12
Q

What did the experimenter and Mr Wallace do to ensure each ppts had the same experience?

A

They both worked to a script

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13
Q

What did Mr Wallace do at 150v?

A

Shouted that the shocks were painful and that he wanted to be let out and refused to carry on

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14
Q

What did Mr Wallace do at 270v?

A

Agonised screams

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15
Q

What did Mr Wallace do at 300v?

A
  • Refused to provide any more answers

- Shrieked in agony

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16
Q

What happened at 330v?

A

No noise could be heard from Mr Wallace

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17
Q

What did the experimenter do to encourage the ppts to carry on in Milgram’s studies?

A

They had 4 promts:
“Please continue”
“The experiment requires that you continue”
“It is absolutely essential that you continue”
“You have no other choice, you must go on”

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18
Q

Were the ppts debriefed in Milgram’s studies?

A
  • Yes, after the experiment, the ppts were fully debriefed.

- Milgram ensured they felt psychologically fine and that they could meet Mr Wallace to see no harm was caused.

19
Q

How many ppts obeyed up to 300v in the original study?

A

100%

20
Q

How many ppts obeyed up to 450v (highest shock) in the original study?

A

65%

21
Q

How many ppts experienced seizures in the original study?

A

3

22
Q

How many ppts experience nervous laughter in the original Milgram Study?

A

14

23
Q

What was the conclusion of Milgram’s original study?

A

That social influence is strong and people obey orders from authority figures even if it causes distress.

24
Q

What made Milgram’s original study lack generalisability?

A

Ethnocentric - Ppts were all white and from New Haven
Androcentric - Ppts were all male
Sampling method - Voluntary

25
Q

Is the sample size of Milgram’s original study a strength or weakness?

A

Strength - large sample size (40 ppts)

26
Q

What made the reliability of Milgram’s original study a strength?

A

Standardised procedure - confederates followed a script

Controls - same people were confederates

27
Q

What can Milgram’s original study be applied to?

A

Vietnam War- Soldiers were told to kill Viet Cong people but blindly followed orders and killed 800 innocent people

This can be explained by this study as the soldiers obeyed the authority figure, the same as the 65% of ppts that continued to 450v in Milgram’s study.

28
Q

Was the validity of Milgram’s original study a strength or a weakness?

A
  • Weakness
  • Poor ecological validity due to lab setting
  • Poor task validity due to unusual tasks
29
Q

How could the study being at Yale University affect Milgram’s original study results?

A

A majority of ppts would be unfamiliar with such a prestigious location and so it could have intimidated them.

30
Q

What was the aim of variation 7 of Milgram’s study? How were instructions given to the ppts?

A
  • To investigate whether the proximity of the experimenter in relation to the ppts would affect levels of obedience.
  • Over the telephone
31
Q

Describe the sample of variation 7 of Milgram’s study

A

40 White males from New Haven

32
Q

What were the results of variation 7 of Milgram’s study?

A

22.5% obeyed to 450v

33
Q

What was the conclusion of variation 7 of Milgram’s study?

A

The physical presence of an authority figure was an important influence.
Obedience to destructive commands is somewhat dependant on the proximity of the authority figure.

34
Q

What was the aim of variation 10 of Milgram’s original study?

A

To see how obedience would be affected if the setting was changed to a run-down office block compared to a prestigious university lab.

35
Q

Describe the sample of variation 10 of Milgram’s original study

A

40 white males from Bridgeport

36
Q

What were the results of variation 10 of Milgram’s original study?

A

48% obeyed to 450v

37
Q

What was the conclusion of variation 10 of Milgram’s original study?

A

That the setting can have a slight influence on obedience to authority, but context may play a more important part.

38
Q

What was the aim for Variation 13 of Milgram’s original study?

A

To investigate the impact of power relations on obedience.

To see how obedience would be affected if an ordinary man gave the orders.

39
Q

Describe the sample for variation 13 of Milgram’s study

A

20 White males from New Haven

40
Q

How were roles picked for variation 13 of MIlgram’s study?

A
  • Drew slips of paper
  • Rigged so the ppts was always the teacher and the confederates always got the same roles (1 as the learner and 1 as an accomplice for the ppts)
41
Q

What happened to the experimenter in variation 13 of Milgram’s study?

A
  • They went through usual instructions (eg Strapped Mr Wallace into the chair and sample shock for ppts)
  • Didn’t indicate what shock levels to use
  • Received a rigged phone call to leave the room
  • Told them that info will be recorded and to go on with the experiment
42
Q

How did the accomplice suggest to shock Mr Wallace in variation 13?

A

To increase the shock level one step at a time every time Mr Wallace got a question wrong

This was insisted throughout the experiment

43
Q

What were the results of variation 13 of Milgram’s study?

A

20% obeyed to 450v

44
Q

What was the conclusion for variation 13 of Milgram’s study?

A

That visible authority is an important influence on obedience.

Edexcel A-Level Social Psychology (13 decks)

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