obedience Flashcards
what is obedience?
a type of social influence where an individual complies with or follows a direct order, usually from a figure of authority
what was Milgram actually interested in studying?
would people obey if the authority was destructive
this was inspired by how people obeyed the Nazis during the holocaust
describe, in basic detail, the procedure of Milgram’s study?
if confederate student got a word pair answer wrong, teacher was instructed by the researcher to give an electric shock increasing intensity up to 450V (life threatening)
what type of sampling was used in Milgram’s study?
volunteer
describe the sample used in Milgram’s study?
40 American males so not very representative
BUT
good variety of backgrounds e.g. 40% white collar workers and 22.5% professionals
give some quantitative data from Milgram’s original study?
12.5% ppt stopped at 300V
65% continued all the way to 450V (danger to life)
give some qualitative data for the results of Milgram’s original study?
ppts showed signs of being under extreme stress e.g. sweating and stuttering
3 ppts had seizures
ppts were fully debriefed and assured their behaviour was normal, follow up questionnaire showed 85% said they were glad to have participated
what can be concluded from Milgram’s study?
nearly everyone will obey destructive authority, even when they know it’s wrong
suggests Germans are not weak and them obeying the Nazis is ‘normal’
how is Milgram’s study replicable?
Le Jeu de la Mort 2010 replicated study on a French TV show amd found 80% delivered maximum 460V shock
also shows temporal validity
how might Milgram’s study also not be replicable?
ethical issues wouldn’t pass today
informed consent, right to withdraw, deception, protection from harm
this could damage reputation of psych
how is Milgram’s sample not representative?
40 american men
-small sample size
-Sheridan and King found women obeyed more in a similar study
-America is also individualist country so results might not generalise
how could it be argued that Milgram’s sample was representative?
good variety of backgrounds eg 40% white collar workers
22.5% professionals
how does Milgram’s study have high internal validity?
lab study so high levels of control
Milgram found 70% of ppts thought shocks were real
who argued Milgram’s study to be unrealistic?
Orne and Holland argue ppts will have guessed it wasn’t real and ppts just responding to demand characteristics
what is the evidence to support that Milgram’s study has high external validity?
Hofling et al studied nurses on a ward and found 21/22 obeyed to give doses of a drug that would kill someone, since doctors gave orders
this situation has higher mundane realism so shows Milgram’s study had high ext validity
how did obedience levels change when both the teacher and learner were sat in the same room?
fell from 65% to 40%
how did obedience levels change when teacher was required to force hand of learner onto shock plate?
fell from 65% to 30%
how did obedience levels change when experimenter left and gave further orders over the phone?
fell from 65% to 20.5%
how did ppts say Milgram’s study being conducted in a psych lab at Yale make them feel?
gave them confidence of integrity of people involved
how did obedience levels change when the study was moved to a less reputable run down office?
fell from 65% to 48%
how did Milgram change the uniform of the experimenter from wearing a white lab coat (authority), what effect did this have on obedience levels?
member of public was the experimenter and they wore normal clothes
dropped from 65% to 20%, lowest of all variations
what research supports Milgram’s research into situational variables?
Bickman found NYC people obeyed instructions to pick up litter significantly more when the confederate was dressed in security uniform than reg clothes
increases validity of Milgram’s research and increases our confidence that his findings may be true and so can contribute to our understanding of human behaviour regarding social influence
how can Orne and Holland’s criticism that Milgram’s research lacks internal validity be furthered for research into situational variables?
adding extra situational variables makes the study even less believable
e.g. ppts even less likely to see the scenario as real if experimenter is replaced by a ‘member of the public’ - even Milgram agreed this might lead to demand characteristics
Milgram’s research into situational variables has been replicated in other cultures- how?
Meeus and the Raajmakers more realistic study where ppts had to say very stressful things to a confederate they were job interviewing
found obedience 90%
also supported Milgram’s findings of proximity bc obedience greatly decreased when person giving orders wasn’t present
suggests study is generalisable
