Obedience (milgram)

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

• a form of social influence where the individual follows a direct order
• person issuing the order usually someone of authority
• power to punish if not obedient

Question 2

Milgrams research: basics

Answer 2

• Milgram made baseline procedure that could asses obedience levels
• adapted in later variations
• baseline findings used to make comparisons

Question 3

Milgram’s: baseline procedure

Answer 3

• 40 men volunteered In a study which supposedly researched memory
• drew lots on who would be the teacher and who would be the learner but confederate would always be learner
• experimenter involved
• E ordered to T to give an increasingly strong shock to L in a different room
• fake shocks but T didn’t know this

Question 4

Milgrams: baseline findings

Answer 4

• every pp gave shock of up to 300 V
• 12.5% stopped at 300 V
• 65% continued to 450 V
• pp showed signs of extreme tension
• 3 had ‘ full blown uncontrollable seizures’

Question 5

Milgrams: other data

Answer 5

• b4 he asked 14 psychology students to predict results
• predcted that no more 3% would continue to max volts
• unexpected bc underestimated how obedient pp would be
• everyone in baseline debriefed and assured behaviour was completely normal
• follow up questionnaire and 84% said glad they participated

Question 6

Evaluation strength: research support

Answer 6

• documentary focused on a game show especially made for the programme
• paid to give fake electric shocks to other pp in front of a studio audience
• 80% gave max 460 V shocks to an ‘unconscious man’
• behaviour was almost identical to milgrams
• shows his findings weren’t due to special circumstances

Question 6

Evaluation limitation: Low internal validity

Answer 6

• 75% of pp said they believed the shocks were genuine
• Orne and Holland argued pp were only play acting because they didn’t believe in the set up
• parry listenend to tapes of milgrams pp
• found only half thought shocks were real
• 2/3 were disobedient
• pp responding to demand characteristics

Question 6

evaluation COUNTER: low internal validity

Answer 6

• Sheridan and king conducted a study w/ the same procedure as milgrams
• pp all gave real shocks to a puppy in response to an experimenter
• despite real shocks 54% of men and 100% of women gave fatal shocks

Question 7

Evaluation limitations: alternative interpretations of findings

Answer 7

• Haslam et al. found pp obeyed after first 3 prods
• every pp given 4th prod: ‘you have no choice you must go on’ without exception disobeyed
• according to social identity theory (SIT), they only obeyed if they identified with the scientific Aims of the study
• when told to blindly obey they refused
• SIT may be a more valid interpretation of milgrams findings

Question 8

4 prods the Experimenter used to order the Teacher to continue

Answer 8

• prod 1: ‘ please go on/ continue’
• 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 continue