Obedience Flashcards
Was Milgram’s study generalizable?
Sample was all American men aged 20-50- stereotypical
Volunteer sample- extrovert personality
Reliability of Milgram?
Each voltage was labeled in order with the same instructions and prompts.
Pre-recorded screams and silence from 300V
Application of Milgram?
War/ nazi Germany
Genocide
Validity of Milgram?
The task was irregular as people would not do this in everyday life- artificial
Ethicality of Milgram?
Ppt distress/ not protected/ opportunity to withdraw was ignored/ lack of informed consent/ deception
84% said they were happy- 1 year debrief
What was milgram’s aim?
To see whether people would obey and inflict harm on others using electric shock, by following orders from an authority figure
Procedure of Milgram
. A volunteer sample placed in an advert offering a $4 reward with travel expenses
. 40 male ppts- introduced to a confederate
. Draw was rigged so ppts were allocate role of teacher
. Given a test shock of 45V
. Shock generator was marked in 15V stages - 450v with comments of ‘slight shock’ and ‘danger’
.ppts asked to read word pairs and the learner had 4 options to choose from- if these were wrong then the teacher would shock them
. At 150V the teacher heard a recording saying ‘ouch’
.at 300V learner went silent and teacher was told to treat as a wrong answer
What happened if the ppt asked to stop?
Prompted to ‘please continue’- experiment stopped after reaching 450V or asking 5 times
Findings of milgrams 1963 experiment?
65% of ppts gave shocks to 450V- 100% gave shocks to 300V
Conclusion of Milgram’s 1963 experiment
People will obey an authority figure even when this cause harm to another individual
What was variation 7 and the obedience rate?
Learner received orders over the telephone (22.5%)
What was variation 10 and the obedience rate?
Experiment carried out in downtown office, Bridgeport (48%)
What was variation 13 and what was the obedience rate?
Experimenter left the room and non-uniformed man took over (20%)
What was the aim of milgram’s variation 7?
To see if the experimenter in the room affected the level of obedience- instructors given over the phone to test immediacy
Procedure of variation 7
The experimenter gave the instructions at the start, in the same room. Then left the room and communicated over the phone
Results of Milgram’s variation 7
Obedience rate dropped to 22.5- ppts lied to experimenter about increasing the voltage
Conclusion of variation 7
Physical presence is an important factor
Aim of variation 10
To see if the outcome was the same if it took place in a less prestigious venue
Procedure of variation 10
Same procedure as the original but given $4.50
Results of variation 10
47.5%