milgram, situational variables Flashcards
Milgrams aim
- wanted to see if ordinary people would obey horrific orders from an authority figure
- because of horrific actions from holocaust
milligrams procedure
-40 males aged 20-50
-recruited through newspaper advert, thought it was abt memory
-naive pps - teacher
- conf - learner
-naive- instructed by experimenter in white lab coat to give what they thought was genuine electric shocks of increasing voltage from 15-450v to learner for every wrong answer they gave
-learner would bang on walls and scream to show his distress, when pps would try to leave, given series of verbal prods, by experimenter to continue with study
milgrams findings
100% of pps gave shocks up to 300v
60% of pps continued to highest (450v)
qualitivatve data collected, showed that ppts demonstrated tension e.g nail biting, sweating and uncontrollable seizures
milgrams conclusion
shows that normal people are capable of performing horrific acts with obeying instructions from an authority figure
milgram - proximity
-when L and T placed in same room , obedience rate dropped to 40%
-when teacher forced L hand onto electroshock plate, obedience dropped to 30%
- when E left room and gave instructions over the phone, obedience dropped to 20.5%
milgram. -location
changed location to run down building instead of Yale, dropped to 47.5%
milgram - uniform
experimenter called away because of a phone call, experimenter changed to an “ordinary person”, wearing normal clothes and not that white lab coat, obedience level fell to 20%
all of the percentage drops for the variations - milgram
Percentage of P that were obedient.
study done at Yale - 65%
study done at run down office - 47.5%
T + L in same room - 40%
forces hand on L on plate - 30%
Orders over phone - 20.5%
E played by public member - 20%
Strength of milgram
P - further research support for situational explanations of obedience
E - Bickham (1974), carried similar study using field experiment, where C wore security guard uniform, milkman’s outfit or everyday clothing and gave orders to passers by
E - found that people were 2x times as likely to obey the security guard then normal people
L - provides further support for milgram, concludes that uniform symbolises authority and is a situational factor
Advantage of milligrams study
P - replicated in other cultures
E - Miranda et al (1981) repeated his study on sample of spanish students, found that obedience rate was over 90%, important as it shows his conclusions aren’t only limited to American men but are valid across cultures
E - Smith and Bond 1998 would argue that these replications have taken place in western, developed places, so its too early to conclude that milgrams findings about situational variables can be applied to other cultures
L - so whiilst it is still a strength that Milgrams research has been replicated in other cultures, it is still limited as the findings are unlikely to be generalised to non western cultures e.g china
Strength of milgram
P- High levels of control throughout the study
E - Milgram was able to systematically manipulate one variable at a time to see what effect it would have
E- For example, he was able to manipulate the variable location, by repeating the study in a run down building rather than in Yale
L - So milgram could be confident that the findings were due to specific manipulations of the variables, and means that other researchers can replicate the study the exact same way and make sure the findings weren’t a one off
name the 5 ethical issues
consent, deception, confidentiality, debrief, withdraw, protection from harm
what is consent
the participant must know about and agree to all aspects of the study
what is deception
the pps must not be deceived about anything regarding the study
what is confidentiality
pps information and responses must be kept private unless the agree otherwise
