Obedience (Milgram's researched) Flashcards
1
Q
Outline Milgrams procedure
A
- 40 male ppts through newspaper advertisement, ad said he was looking for ppts for a study about memory
- 20-50 yo, ranged in skills, offered $4.50 to take part
- confederate always ended up as the learner whilst ppts became the teacher
- ppts were told they could leave at any time
- learner was strapped in a chair in the other room, teacher was told to give them an increasingly higher shock every time they got the answers incorrect
- shock level started at 15 and rose by 30 up till 450v
- after 315v there was no response from the learner
2
Q
When the ppts wanted to get out of the study what were the 4 standard prods the experimenter used
A
1- ‘please continue’
2- ‘the experiment requires that you continue’
3- ‘it is essential that you continue’
4- ‘you have no other choice you must continue’
3
Q
What were his findings
A
- no ppts stopped below 300v
- 12.5% stopped at 300v
- 65% continued till 450v
- qualitative data also showed that ppts showed signs of extreme tension, biting their nails, stuttering, 3 had full blown seizures
4
Q
Give a limitation of the study
A
- low internal validity
- Orne & Holland argued ppts behaved the way they did because they didn’t believe in the set up
- in which case Milgram was not testing what he intended to test and so the study lacked internal validity
5
Q
A limitation is that his study had low internal validity, explain why this may not be true
A
- Sheridan & King conducted a similar study where real shocks were given to a puppy
- 54% of the male ppt and 100%?! of the females delivered what they thought was a fatal shock
- this suggests Milgrams study was genuine because ppl behaved the same way to real shocks
6
Q
What is a strength of the study
A
- good external validity
- it was conducted in a lab, however it widely reflected authority relationships in real life
7
Q
What did Hofling find
A
- 21 out of 22 nurses obeyed to unjustified demands
