obedience

Question 1

Milgram’s study : AIM : OBEDIENCE

Answer 1

to test whether ordinary americans would obey an unjust order and inflict pain on another person because they were instructed to so by an AUTHORITY FIGURE

Question 2

Milgram’s study : PROCEDURE : OBEDIENCE

Answer 2

• 40 american males responded to an advert for an experiment into memory and learning, were aid for particiating
• 2 confederates : the ‘experimenter’ in a lab coat and the other a ‘learner’
• had a shock generator 15v-450v
• had to ask learner a set of word pairs, when answered incorrectly the ppt had to shock the learner
• learner shouts at 315v but no further noise is made after this
• 4 main probs : “please continue”, “the experiment requires that you continue”, “it is absolutely essential that you continue”, “you have no other choice, you must go on”

Question 3

Milgram’s study : FINDINGS : OBEDIENCE

Answer 3

• all continued to 300v
• 5 refused to continue after 300v
• 65% continued to 450v

Question 4

Milgram’s study : CONCLUSION : OBENDIENCE

Answer 4

• suggests a SITUATIONAL explanation not a dispositional explanation for obedience
• most people would obey authority in these situations

Question 5

evaluation of milgram

Answer 5

ecological validity
ethics
internal validity
gender bias
culture bias

Question 6

ecological validity : EVALUATION OF MILGRAM

Answer 6

• man have criticised saying the study does not reflect a real-life situation
  Holfing
• repeated the study and got similar results
• 21 out of 22 nurses gave a lethal dose of drug when ordered to do so by a doctor
• obedience is high in real life

Question 7

gender bias : EVALUATION OF MILGRAM

Answer 7

• only conducted on males
• results cannot be applied to females

Question 8

culture bias : EVALUATION OF MILGRAM

Answer 8

• only conducted on americans
• cannot be generalised to other cultures

Question 9

ethics : EVALUATION OF MILGRAM

Answer 9

• milgram deceived ppts as to the aim of the study
• made the ppts feel as if they could not withdraw due to use of prods
• many ppts showed signs of stress and guilt
• milgram stated 83.7% of ppts were happy to have taken part when asked in debriefing

Question 10

internal validity : EVALUATION OF MILGRAM

Answer 10

Orne and Holland
- argue that ppts did not believe the experiment was real
- sme suggest they only shocked the learner as they were getting paid