Obedience 1.1.2 Milgrams (1963)

Question 1

Aims?

Answer 1

• Investigate level of obedience when told by authority figure to give electric shocks
• Investigate ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis (assumption based on their blind obedience because of WW2)

Question 2

Sample?

Answer 2

• 40 male pp 20-50
• Pps incl post clerks, HS teachers, labourers, engineers
  > Education lvl ranges from hadnt finished elementary to doctorates/ professional degrees

Question 3

Sample design/ method?

Answer 3

Volunteer sample (advert in local paper, asking for pp to ‘take part in a study of memory and learning at yale) paid $4.50 for study (told to keep even if they withdrew)

Question 4

Method?

Answer 4

Observational in a lab envir

Question 5

Briefly describe the procedure of this original study.

Answer 5

Pre exp- Pps ‘randomly’ assigned role of teacher/learner (all pps were given teacher role)
2 rooms at Yale: one for learner w electric chair, one for teacher+experimenter w electric shock generator. ‘Learner’ strapped to electric chair w electrodes.
‘Learner’ given list of word pairs to learn, Teacher tests him by saying a word + asking ‘learner’ to recall it’s pair word.
‘Teacher’ told to administer shocks for every incorrect answer. Volts start @45V, incr by 15V for every incorrect answer until 450 V max.
‘Learner’ gave mainly incorrect asnwers (on purpose). If teacher refused to give shocks, was told verbal prods.
In this order always:
1.Please continue/Please go on
2. The experiment requires that you continue
3. It is absolutely essential that you continue
4. You have no other choice, you must go on (if pps refused after 4, were released from exp)

Question 6

IV DV?

Answer 6

IV = n/a, observational study
DV = Level of voltage and stressed behaviour

Question 7

Results of original study?

Answer 7

• 65% of sample administered full 450V
• 100% continue to 300V
  > 12.5% dropped out after 300V
• Pps observed to dissent: tremble, sweat,35% nervous laughter

Question 8

Describe the conclusion of his experiment.

Answer 8

Due to being taught to obey authority from a young age, anyone has the capability to kill innocent people when following orders from an authority figure, so it’s not just German people who obey authority in extreme ways as the circumstances are situational.

Question 9

GRAVE- Generalisability

Answer 9

G- P-Low
E- Milgram’s original sample was 40 American males aged 20-50, small sample.
E- Weakness, results for obedience may not translate to generalise to a larger population outside of America nor apply to the female population (ethnocentric + androcentric)

Question 10

GRAVE- Reliability

Answer 10

P - High
E - Standardised procedure such as the same word pair list
E - Easy to accurately replicate, also combats extraneous variables that could affect the obedience of the pps, can then determine if the obedience of the pps was due to the standardized factors of the experiment eg some words on the word list may’ve led to more/less obedience in pps.
P - Low inter-rater
E - There was only the experimenter observing stress and other behaviour
E - Therefore elements of subjectivity in what they define as stressed behaviour

Question 11

GRAVE-Application

Answer 11

A-
P- Yes
E- It removes the prejudice and accountability of many German people due to them surrendering their free will to Hitler during WW2
E-It shows OBEDIENCE + AGENTIC STATE is applicable in everyday life, explains why obedience can be used for bad and good actions
P-Yes; can be applied to how obedience in authority works
E- Milgram’s was applied to Tarnow (2000) which then led to improved pilot training.
E- Strength, can be applied to increasing obedience in settings such as schools, prisons. workplaces.

Question 12

GRAVE-Validity

Answer 12

1. P- High int validity
   E- Pps were unaware of true aim and believed the study was an study of ‘memory and learning’ (as found in the original ad in newspaper), not obedience.
   E- Strength, decr demand characteristics, so elicited pp’s natural response to authority, making findings more valid when studying obedience.
   2.P- Low ext validity
   E- Artificial conditions- Yale University- a prestigious lab setting so pps may act different due to the unnatural setting. Artificial task as it’s unusual to be requested to administer electric shocks to another person.
   E-Weakness, low ecological and task validity; doesn’t reflect real-life situations of obedience eg being told to do homework by your school.

Question 13

GRAVE-Ethics

Answer 13

1.P-Poor
E- Observation of dissent eg 35% displayed nervous laughter,sweating; encouraging them to continue regardless.
E-May lead to psychological harm due to stress
J(justification)- Debrief caused relief, Milgram didn’t predict
2.P- Poor
E- Verbal prods used 1-4 before allowing pps to withdraw from exp
E- Weakness, questions the right to withdraw from Milgram’s
J-12.5% of pps withdrew after 300V, 35% of pps refused to administer full 450V