milgrams 1963 obedience study

Question 1

social key question

Answer 1

how can social psychology be used to explain heroism ?

Question 2

milgrams (1963) obedience study aim

Answer 2

to test the hypothesis “germans are different” by investigating how the situational context could lead ordinary ppl to inflict harm on others

Question 3

milgrams 1963 obedience study’s participants

Answer 3

40 adult males , ages 20-50
self selected sample of advert
paid to take in part in a study of “memory and learning”

Question 4

where was milgrams 1963 study of obedience taken place ?

Answer 4

laboratory at yale university

Question 5

pre set up to milgrams 1963 obedience study

Answer 5

asked ppts to draw a slip of paper to determine what role they would play
draw was rigged so that participants always gets the role of “teacher” and the actor gets “learner” aka MR WALLACE
biology teacher acted as the experimenter

Question 6

milgrams 1963 obedience study’s procedure of deception before task

Answer 6

• ppts shown shock generator + chair w/straps
  -saw “mr wallace” put on electrode paste labelled “to avoid blisters and burns”
  -mr wallace got sample a real sample shock of 45v

Question 7

milgrams 1963 obedience study procedure/task

Answer 7

ppts instructed to start the word association (2 for learner to memorise) - teacher says first word , learner says second
if the learner got it wrong = increased lvl of voltage
if ppts was hesitant = experimenter prompts would go to “ please continue” and would get more assertive as it goes on : “whether you like it or not , you must go on”

Question 8

milgrams 1963 obedience study results

Answer 8

40/40 teachers gave shocks til 300v
35% stopped between 300-375
25% went to max

Question 9

Milgrams 1963 obedience study’s conclusions

Answer 9

ordinary people are capable of destructive obedience
obedience is due to situational factors than to deviant personalities

Question 10

Positives for milgrams 1963 obedience study (8m)

Answer 10

p1) reliable : standardised procedure + able to replicate
p2)internal validity : controlled extraneous variables = strong correlation between results and stimuli

Question 11

negatives for milgrams 1963 obedience study

Answer 11

p1) not generalisable : american adult males = non applicable to wider society
p2)confidentiality of videoing the participants

Question 12

Milgrams 1963 obedience study 8 marker conclusion points

Answer 12

• Researches have responsibility over ppts despite them volunteering
• psychological harm was too harsh
• claims that one of the ppts left the study believing that the learner died
• deception was bad here
• Milgram validity in results due to his diary consisting irregularities to the public results
• led to training that improves cockpit behaviour and potentially save lives