Obediance SI

Question 1

obediance def

Answer 1

is a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming

Question 2

confederate

Answer 2

a person one works with, especially in something secret or illegal; an accomplice

Question 3

Milgrams motivation for his research

Answer 3

**Milgram’s **parents were Jewish and had emigrated after WW1. Milgram had a strong sense of his Jewish identity (personal interest)
→ Eichmann was a German who helped investigate ways to dispose of ‘unwanted’ jews

Question 4

Milgrams baseline procedure

Answer 4

• 40 American men volunteered ( aged 20-50)
• Test was on “memory”
• Volunteer was introduced to another participant ( confederate of Milgram)
• Fixed chances on who would be teacher and learner → participant was always teacher
• Was always another confederate there as an experimenter
• The voltage level given to participants to test it was 45 volts

Question 5

aim of milgrams study

Answer 5

to assess obedience in a situation where an authority figure (experimenter) ordered the participant (teacher) to give an increasingly strong shock to a learner located in a different room

Question 6

Milgrams baseline findings

Answer 6

• All participants delivered shock up to 300 volts
• 5 participants stopped at 300 volts
• 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts

Question 7

examples

MIlgram also collected qualitative data

Answer 7

• Sweat
• Tremble
• Stutter
• Bite their lips
• Groan
• Dig fingernails into hands
• Full-blown uncontrollable seizures

Question 8

milgram

Other data

Answer 8

• 14 psychology students estimated that no more than 3% of participants would go up to 450 volts
• Findings were unexpected
• All participants were debriefed that their actions were normal
• 84% participants said they were glad to have taken part

Question 9

MIlgrams baseline conclusions

Answer 9

• German people are not different
• Participants were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person
• Conducted further studies

Question 10

strengths

research support for** milgrams** study

Answer 10

Milgram’s findings were replicated in a documentary
- Beauvois 2012
- Game show
- Results were almost identical to milgram’s participants

Supports Milgram’s original findings about obedience to authority

Question 11

limitation

Alternative interpretation of milgrams findings

Answer 11

blind obedience may not be justified
* Haslam 2014
* Social identity theory → participants only obeyed when they identified with the scientific aims of the research

Question 12

limitation and strength

low internal validity in milgrams study

point + counterpoint

Answer 12

Subject to demand characteristics
* 75% of participants thought the shocks were genuine
* **Holland 1968
* ** Perry 2013

Sheridan and King conducted a study but with a puppy and had real shocks, 54% of men gave the fatal shock and 100% of women gave the fatal shock

Question 13

limitation

ethical issues in MIlgrams study

Answer 13

Participants were deceived
- Baumrind 1964 believed that deception had serious consequences