Obedience and Milgram Flashcards
Milgram began a series of
______ experiments in _______
18
1963
Main results
62.5% of participants delivered the 450v shock, the maximum amount.
80% continued giving the shocks, even after the learner, who earlier had mentioned he had a heart problem, screamed, “Let me out of here! My heart’s bothering me.”
Factors that led to greater obedience
Relieved of personal responsibility
Escalating commitments
Milgram
Pre - Discusion
Obedience is as basic an element in the structure of social life as one can point to. Some system of authority is a requirement of all communal living, and it is only the man dwelling in isolation who is not forced to respond, through defiance or submission, to the commands of others.
Milgram
General procedure
A simulated shock generator is used, with 30 clearly marked voltage levels that range from IS to 450 volts
Subjects
The subjects were 40 males between the ages of 20 and 50.
Those who responded to the appeal believed they were to participate in a study of memory and learning at Yale University.
Payment was simply for coming to the laboratory, and that the money was theirs no matter what happened after they arrived.
Milgram
procedure
Subjects then drew slips of paper from a hat to determine who would be the teacher and who would be the learner in the experiment. The drawing was rigged so that the naive subject was always the teacher and the accomplice always the learner.
The experimenter explained that the straps were to prevent excessive movement while the learner was being shocked. The effect was to make it impossible for him to escape.
“Although the shocks can be extremely painful, they cause no permanent tissue damage.”
Milgram
Measures
A subject who breaks off the experiment at any point prior to administering the thirtieth shock level is termed a defiant subject.
One who complies with experimental commands fully, and proceeds to all shock levels commanded, is termed an obedient subject.
Milgram
Results
Subjects were asked: “How painful to the learner were the last few shocks that you administered to him?” Subjects were instructed to indicate their answers on a printed 14-point scale ranging from “Not at all painful” to “Extremely painful.” The modal response was 14 (Extremely painful) with the mean at 13.42.
Of the 40 subjects, 26 obeyed the orders of the experimenter to the end, proceeding to punish the victim until they reached the most potent shock available on the shock generator.
Milgram
Discussion
The experiment yielded two findings that were surprising. The first finding concerns the sheer strength of obedient tendencies manifested in this situation. The second unanticipated effect was the extraordinary tension generated by the procure.
This outcome was surprising from two perspectives: first, from the standpoint of predictions made in the questionnaire described earlier. But the results were also unexpected to persons who observed the experiment in progress, through one-way mirrors.
Milgram
The following features of the experiment go some distance in explaining the high amount of obedience observed in the situation.
(13 things)
- The experiment is sponsored by and takes place on the grounds of an institution of unimpeachable reputation, Yale University.
- The experiment is, on the face of it, designed to attain a worthy purpose (advancement of science)
- The subject perceives that the victim has voluntarily submitted to the authority system of the experimenter.
- The subject, too, has entered the experiment voluntarily, and perceives himself under obligation to aid the experimenter. (commitment)
- Certain features of the procedure strengthen the subject’s sense of obligation to the experimenter.
- From the subject’s standpoint, the fact that he is the teacher and the other man the learner is purely a chance consequence (it is determined by drawing lots) and he, the subject, ran the same risk as the other man in being assigned the role of learner. Since the assignment of positions in the experiment was achieved by fair means, the learner is deprived of any basis of complaint on this count.
- There is, at best, ambiguity with regard to the prerogatives of a psychologist and the corresponding rights of his subject.
- The subjects are assured that the shocks administered to the subject are “painful but not dangerous.”
- Through Shock Level 20 the victim continues to provide answers on the signal box.
- The subject is placed in a position in which he must respond to the competing demands of two persons: the experimenter and the victim.
- While the demands of the experimenter carry the weight of scientific authority, the demands of the victim spring from his personal experience of pain and suffering.
- The experiment gives the subject little time for reflection.
- At a more general level, the conflict stems from the opposition of two deeply ingrained behavior dispositions: first, the dis position not to harm other people, and second, the tendency to obey those whom we perceive to be legitimate authorities.
Modern Day Obedience Studies
Would the results from Milgram be repeated today?
Meeus & Raaijmakers (1995)
Psychological harm rather than physical harm
Burger’s replication of Milgram (2009)
Meeus & Raaijmakers (1995)
Participants met confederate on a job interview who had to pass test
Experimenter told participants to distract the test-taking applicant by making harassing remarks
How many participants would obey through entire set of 15 stress remarks?
Control group: No prodding experimenter
Experimental group: Prods
Burger’s replication of Milgram (2009)
Partial replication
Paid $50 to participants ranging from 20-81 years
Used same procedure but estimated how many would have pulled the switch at 450 volts
Additional precautions
Burger’s replication of Milgram (2009)
What factors led to participants disobeying?
Analyzed comments from 2009 replication (Burger, 2011)
Took personal responsibility?
Concern about learner’s well-being?
