Obediance Studies

Question 1

What was the aim of Milgram’s study?

Answer 1

• To see if people would obey the orders of an authority figure, even when there was fatal consequences
• the p’s were told the aim was to find out the effects of punishment on memory

Question 2

What was the procedure of Milgram’s study?

Answer 2

• 40 male p’s aged between 20-50 from different backgrounds
• volunteer sampling, p’s were paid
• ‘randomly’ allocated role of teacher, placed in room with ‘experimenter’
• asked to give shock to ‘learner’ every time they answered wrong
• 0V-450V

Question 3

What were the results of Milgram’s study?

Answer 3

• 100% gave up to 300V
• 65% went to the max 450V
• P’s were extremely uncomfortable and showed this through nervous laughter, sweating, asking to leave, hesitation and in some cases seizures

Question 4

What was the conclusion of Milgram’s study?

Answer 4

Milgram concluded that participants would obey the orders of an authority figure as participants gave electric shocks to a learner when told to do so by an authority figure

Question 5

What were the variations of Milgram’s study?

Answer 5

• Uniform - dropped to 20% - uniforms are easily recognisable and convey power and authority
• Location - dropped to 48% - P’s said being at Yale gave them confidence in the integrity of the people involved
• Proximity - learner in room, 40%, able to experience anguish firsthand -> remote authority, 21%, p’s were able to defy experimenter

Question 6

Summarise the evaluations of Milgram’s study

Answer 6

• androcentric
• lacks temporal validity + low ecological validity
• clear standardised procedure
• practical applications
• demand characteristics - Orne and Holland
• deception + no protection from harm