Obedience: Milgram Flashcards
Who were the participants in milgrams study?
Recruited for ‘memory experiment’ through adverts
How were participants allocated their role?
Through a rigged draw
Who was involved in the actual experiment situation
Confederate in a lab coat as experimenter
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Participant as ‘teacher’
Outline the experiment
- learner strapped into chair in other room and wired with electrodes
- teacher required to give increasing shock for wrong answers
What was the top ‘shock level’
Danger- severe shock (450 volts)
What happened at 300 volts (intense shock)
No further response to questions
What did the experimenter say when there was no response?
An absence of response should be treated as a wrong answer
What was the first and last verbal prods
1) please continue
4) you have no other choice, you must go on
What were the quantitive findings?
No one stopped below 300 volts - 12.5% stopped at 300 - 65% continued to 450 v
What was the qualitative data that suggested extreme tension
Sweat
Bite lips and nails
Seizures
What happened to participants after experiment
They were debriefed
How might the study have low internal validity
Some may not have believed it was real shown by some tapes where participants expressed their doubts
Support for experiments internal validity
Milgram reporter 70% believed was real
How might the study have good external validity
Situation of authoritative figure accurate in real life
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Found nurses in hospitals obedient to unjustified demands
What was the point of the variations carried out on the original study
Observe the effect of situational variables on obedience
What several situational variables were studied
1) proximity
2) location
3) uniform
What were the 3 proximity variables
Bring in same room at learner - Forcing of hand onto electric plate - Remote instructions
What was the baseline obedience level for the original study?
65%
What did the obedience rate drop to for same room proximity variation
40%
What did the obedience rate drop to for forcing of hand proximity variation
30%
What did the obedience rate drop to for remote instruction proximity variation
20.5%
What was changed in location variation
Study conducted in run-down building rather than prestigious Yale uni
What did obedience fall to in the rundown building variation
47.5%
What changed in the uniform study
Experimenter in a lab coat called away and replaced by plain clothed ‘member of public’ confederate
What did conformity fall to in uniform variation
20%
Outline felid experiment research support of uniform
Bickman et al (1974):
NYC
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3 confederates in different uniforms asked public to pick up litter or give coin for parking metre
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People were twice as likely to assist security guard than jacket and tie
Explain cross cultural replications (both variations and original)
Found obedience rate of 90% in Spanish students
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Shows findings not limited to males
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Cannot entirely generalise as only western cultures
