obedience: milgram's original study (1963) Flashcards
(AO1) What was the overall aim of Milgram’s study?
To investigate how obedient people would be to orders from a person in authority that would result in pain and harm to another person.
(AO1) What was the specific aim of Milgram’s study?
To see how large an electric shock participants would give to a helpless man when ordered to.
(AO1) What type of experiment was Milgram’s study?
Laboratory experiment.
(AO1) How were people sampled?
An advert was put out asking for volunteers to take part in a study of ‘memory and learning’ at Yale University. They were paid $4.
(AO1) Who were used in the sample?
- 40 males
- Ages 20 - 50
- American (New Haven district of Connecticut)
(AO1) Describe the procedure of Milgram’s original experiment.
When ppts arrived they met another “ppt” who was actually a confederate of Milgram. Both drew straws to determine their roles in the experiment but were rigged so ppt was always the teacher and confederate was the learner. A third person would also be involved; an experimenter who wore a grey lab coat, representing an authority figure. The teacher and the learner were placed in different rooms; one with an electric chair and one with and electric shock generator where the experimenter would be. The learner had to learn a list of word pairs and the teacher would test him. If the learner got the word pairs wrong a shock would be administered, increasing the level of shock each time by 15V. If ppts tried to obey, the experimentor gave a series of prods (4) and when all prods were used ppts could leave.
(AO1) What four prods did the experimenter give to the teacher?
1) “Please continue”
2) “The experiment requires that you continue”
3) “It is absolutely essential that you continue”
4) “You have no other choice but to continue”
(AO1) What was the conclusion of Milgram’s experiment?
You don’t have to be a psychopath to obey immoral orders; ordinary people will do it in the right situation despite finding the process distressing.
(AO1) What were the results of Milgram’s experiment?
Quantitative data:
- Ppts were obedient until 300V; this is the point when the learner stopped answering questions.
- Between 300V - 375V 14 out of 40 ppts dropped out of the experiment.
- The remaining 26 (65%) carried on to 450V.
Qualitative data:
- Milgram observed that teachers were sweating, trembling, stuttering and groaning.
- 14 out of 40 ppts showed nervous laughter.
Why was a 45V shock administered to the teacher at the start of the experiment?
To increase experimental realism.
