Obedience: Milgram's Research Flashcards
What was the aim of Milgram’s research?
To investigate what level of obedience would be shown when ppts were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person.
What was the procedure of Milgram’s research?
Recruited 40 males through newspaper ads and flyers. Ages 20-50 years. The ppt was offered money to take part. The confederate was the learner, the participant was the teacher and there was an ‘experimenter’. The learner was strapped to a chai in another room and wired with electrodes. Teacher was required to give an electric shock to the learner every time they made a mistake. The shock level started at 15 and rose though 30 levels to 450 volts. When the teacher reached 300v, the student pounded on the wall and then gave no response to the next question. After 315v, they did not reply at all. If the teacher turned to the experimenter- ‘ an absence of response should be treated as a wrong answer’. If they were unsure about continuing, the experimenter used 4 ‘prods’, which were repeated if necessary.
Findings of Milgram’s study into Obedience?
No ppt stopped below 300 volts, 12.5% stopped at 300v, 65% continued to 450v. Qualitative data was collected- some ppts showed extreme signs of tension, 3 even had uncontrollable seizures. Prior to the study, Milgram asked 14 psychology students to predict the behaviour and they estimated that no more than 3% would continue to 450v. All ppts were debriefed and assured their behaviour was normal. 84% were glad they participated.
Evaluation of Milgram- Low internal validity?
Orne and Holland argued ppts behaved the way they did because they did not believe in the set up- guessed fake electric shock. - Not measuring that intended. Perry- re-watched Milgram’s clips and confirmed many had doubts about the shocks. Sheridan and King conducted a similar study where real shocks were given to a puppy. 54% males and 100% females delivered ‘fatal shock’. Shows Milgram’s research is genuine as people reacted same with real shocks. Milgram- 70% ppts believed shocks were real.
Evaluation of Milgram- Good external validity?
May seem to lack it due to being conducted in a lab but the situation between experimenter/ authority figure and ppt mirrored real life. Hofling et al- 21/22 nurses obeyed unjustified demands from doctors. Suggests process of obedience can be generalised to other situations. Findings have some valuable to how obedience happens in real life.
Evaluation of Milgram- Ethical issues?
Baumrind was very critical of ways Milgram deceived his ppts. Led people to believe ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ allocation was random but it was fixed. Deceived by thinking electric shocks were real. She saw deception as a betrayal of trust that could damage reputation of psychologist and their research.
