obedience - milgram Flashcards
define obedience
A form of social influence. in which an individual follows a direct order. The person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour is not forthcoming.
introduction of milligrams study.
wanted to answer the question of why such a high proportion of Germans supported Hilter.
were they more obedient?
40 male participants. Volunteer. aged between 20 and 50 years
procedure of milligrams study
rigged draw for their role. - A confederate was always the ‘learner’ while the true participant was the ‘teacher’.
An ‘experimenter’ (another confederate) wore a lab coat. Participants were told they could leave the study at any time.
learner strapped into a chair in another room teacher had to give the learner an increasingly severe electric ‘shock’ each time he made a mistake up to 450 volts
teachers were not told that the shocks were all fake
what happened if the participant didn’t want to continue.
experimenter used a sequence of four standard ‘prods’:
(Prod 1) ‘Please continue’ or ‘Please go on.’
(Prod 2) ‘The experiment requires that you continue.’
(Prod 3) ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue.’
(Prod 4) ‘You have no other choice, you must go on.’
findings of milligrams study
No participant stopped below 300 volts.
12.5% stopped at 300 volts.
65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts.
conclusions of milligrams study
Observations indicated that participants showed signs of extreme tension;
1 limitation of study
lacked internal validity.
Orne and Holland (1968) : said participants guessed the electric shocks were fake. therefore Milgram was not testing what he intended to test
Sheridan and King’s: conducted a similar study - participants gave real shocks to a puppy. 54% of males and 100% of females delivered a fatal shock.
effects in Milgram’s study were genuine because people behaved the same way with real shocks. 70% of his participants said they believed the shocks were genuine.
1 strength of study
research support.
French documentary contestants in a reality TV game show were paid to give (fake) electric shocks – when ordered by the presenter – to other participants (actors).
80% gave the maximum 450 volts to an apparently unconscious man. Their behaviour was like that of Milgram’s participants, e.g. many signs of anxiety.
replication supports Milgram’s original conclusions- his findings were not just a one-off.
