obedience - Milgram's research Flashcards
what was the procedure of the experiment
40 American men volunteered to tak epart in a study supossedly on memeory
drew who would be teacher and who would be learner
draw was a fix so the participant would always be the teacher
an experimenter was also involved dressed in a lab coat
15 volt steps - 450
shocks were fake but teacher did not know this
what was the main aim of the study
aimed to assess obedience in a situation where an authority figure (experimenter) order the participant to give an increasingly strong shock
what were the findings from the study
every particiant delivered all the shocks up to 300 volts
12.5% stopped at 300 volts
65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts
participanjts showed signs of ectreme tension seen to sweat etc
3 had seizures
conclusions to the study
Milgram concluded that the German people are not different
the American participants in his study were willing to obey orders even when they might harm another person
Give one strength of milgrams study
Research support
Strength-replicated in a French document made about reality tv
participants in the game believed they were contestants in a pilot episode for a new show
paid to give fake electric shocks ordered by the presenter to other participants who were actors in front of the audience
80% of the participants delivered the maximum shock of 460 volts to an apparently unconscious man
behaviour was almost identical to milgrams participants nervous laughter nail biting and other signs of anxiety
supports milgrams original findings about obedience to authority and demonstrates that the findings were not just due to special circumstances
give one limitation about milgrams research
low internal validity
limitation - milgrams procedure may not have been testing what he needed to test
milgrams reported that 75% of his participants said they believed the shocks
however Orne and Holland argued that pariticioanfs behaved as they didn’t really believe the set up so they were play acting
Perrys research confirmed this - listened to tapes of milgrams participants and reported that only half of them believed the shocks were real
2/3 of these participants were disobedient
suggest that participants may have been responding to demand characteristics trying to fulfill the aims of the study
give limitation of milgrams study
alternative interruption of findings
limitation - milgrams conclusions about blind obedience may not be justified
Halsam showed that milgrams participants obeyed when the experimenter delivered the first three verbal prods
however every participant who was given a fourth prod disobeyed
according to social identity theory participants in milgrams study only obeyed when they identified with the scientific aims of the research
when they were ordered to blindly obey an authority figure they refused
shows that slt may provide a more valid interpretation of milgrams findings
