Obedience - milgram's research Flashcards
What is obedience ?
A form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order.
Why did milgram study obedience ?
He wanted to know why the german population followed the orders of hitler to slaugher 10 million jews in the holocaust.
How many ppt did milgram recruite
40 male ppts
How did he recruit ppts ?
Newspaper adverts and flyers in the post which said he was looking for ppt for a study about memory
Age of ppts and job of ppts?
20-50
Ranged from unskilled to professional
How much were they offered to take part ?
£4.50
They were paid outset
What were the roles ?
The roles were rigged.
-A confederate ‘mr wallace’ was always the learner
-True ppt was the teacher
-Another confederate was the experimenter (dressed in a lab coat)
What were the ppt told (ethics)
They could leave the study anytime.
Procedure :
-The learner was strapped in a chair in another room with wired electrodes.
-Teacher was requred to give learner an incresingly severe shock everytime the learner made a mistake
Were the shocks demonstrated
Yes , but after that they were not real.
Shock levels ?
Started at 15 (slight shock) -> 30 levels to 450volts(DANGER).
What happened when the teacher got to 300 volts?
The learner pounded on the wall and gave no response to the next question
What happened after 315 volts ?
Learner pounded on the wall again but there was no further response from the learner
What instruction did the experimenter give when the teacher turned for guidance ?
An absence of response should be treated as a wrong answer.
Why were the prods used ?
They were used when the teacher felt unsure about continuing
What were the 4 prods ?
1 - ‘please continue’/ please go on.
2-The experiment requires you to go on
3-It is essential you continue
4-you have no other choice you must go on.
Findings :
No ppts stopped below 300 volts
- 12.5% ppt stopped at 300 volts
-65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts
-Qualitative data was also collected, observations showed extreme tension.
How was tension shown in ppts ?
Sweating,trembling,stuttering,bite their lips,groan and dig their fingernails into their hands.
Three had full blown seizures
What were ppts asked prior to milgrams study
14 psychology students asked to predict ppts behaviour.
What was said prior the study
No more than 3% of ppts would continue to 450 volts.
Findings were not expected
What was done at the end (ethics)
All ppts were debriefed , and assured their behaviour was normal.
Follow up questionnaire ; 84% were glad to have participated
