Obedience: milgram & variations Flashcards
define obedience
Instructions given from someone with a higher status to someone of lower status who complies with the request or instruction
Define Authority figure/Legitimate Authority
A Person who is perceived to be in charge, usually high in status with the right to give instructions or orders in a given situation.
Define Sample
Group of people , sometimes called ‘subjects’ whose behaviour is being measured in the study
define sampling method
How the sample have been recruited for the study
define volunteer sampling
Sample of people who volunteered to participate, usually in response to recruitment via advertisements
What theory was Milgram trying to prove in regards to factors of obedience?
to test the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis and to attempt to explain the horrors carried out by Nazis
Participants were told that the shocks could be
painful but couldn’t cause any permanent tissue damage
Describe Milgram’s experiment
1963: He advertised in a newspaper for participants in a memory study and introduced them to Mr Wallace (a confederate) and they drew lots to see who would be the learner or the teacher( this was rigged so Mr Wallace was ALWAYS the learner). Teacher watched as learner was strapped into an electrode ( for shocks that increased by 15 volts with every incorrect answer) and the teacher was given a 45V shock for authenticity. Teacher told to shock learner with every wrong answer ~ if teacher refused, they were prompted but if refused constantly the experiment was stopped.
The aim of the experiment was
to investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person
How many participants were there?
40 Males aged 20-50 from the New Haven area
Participants believed the study was to
see if punishment impacted learning
Milgram’s findings?
All participants continued to 300V (Learner said to be unconscious) and 65% continued to the maximum voltage.
what did Milgrams findings suggest?
The high obedience in the sample of 40 white American men suggests blind obedience isn’t restricted to a category
why is obedience necessary
Useful characteristic in society as it’s an evolutionary trait as society functions more effectively with rules, than with anarchy.
What were the strengths of Milgram’s study? (2)
Non Bias (cause-and-effect easily recognised)
Controlled Procedures (experiments exactly the same - replicable and reproducible)
What were the four main weaknesses of Milgram’s study?
- Unethical behaviour (anxiety produced, unprepared for the stage it got to & repetition)
- Right to withdraw given only in theory as pressured to stay
- Only partial consent obtained (under false circumstances - memory not obedience
- Basic study lacked Validity (reality vs. laboratory).
what was experiment 7
It was a variation on Milgram’s original study using distance as the independent variable.
Why did Milgram think Experiment 7 was necessary?
Milgram thought that as the participant had responded to the newspaper advertisement, they had already built a relationship with the experimenter and so were more likely to obey
What did Experiment 7 do?
It varied the distance between the experimenter and the participant to see whether this would affect obedience levels.
describe the method used in Experiment 7
Experimenter gave instructions in person at the start but then left and conveyed further instructions through the telephone
what were findings of experiment 7
9/40 obeyed to the maximum voltage
Some tried to deceive the experimenter by giving lower voltages than was intended by experimenter
What did these findings of Experiment 7 conclude?
Proximity is a key factor in obedience
What are the strengths of Experiment 7? (2)
Included the same procedure meaning the variables changed (distance) were considered to be the deciding variable
Varied presence in other experiments support this claim
What were the weaknesses of Experiment 7?
Unnatural situation
Participant was in an unautonomous state, weakening validity
Participants may not have believed in the shocks, also weakening validity
What was Experiment 10?
It was a variation on Milgram’s original study using prestige as the independent variable.
Why did Milgram think Experiment 10 was necessary?
Milgram thought the power entrenched in the location (Yale) may have affected obedience levels
what happened in experiment 10
Used exactly the same procedure but changed the location to a run down office block
What were the findings of Experiment 10?
The location change gave participants more doubts but they conveyed the same amount of tension as in Yale
Levels of obedience dropped from 65% to 47.5% (insignificant)
What did the findings of Experiment 10 conclude?
Location didn’t significantly change obedience levels and therefore there was a lack of evidence in having a ‘legitimate’ setting and high obedience levels.
What were the strengths of Experiment 10? (2)
Increase in validity ( real life situation)
Same procedure as original meaning cause-and-effect conclusion was easily drawn
What were the weaknesses of Experiment 10? (3)
Question on validity as there was no significant obedience level drops
Real life settings should measure ‘real’ obedience levels but control took some of that away
A drop in levels, though insignificant, hows Yale to lack validity
What was Experiment 13?
It was a variation on Milgram’s original study using authority and appearance as the independent variable
What was the procedure for Experiment 13?
Used the same procedure
The experimenter gave instructions about shocking learner but didn’t say anything about ampage. The accomplice, known to the participant as the time keeper, suggest upping ampage with every incorrect answer.
What were the findings of Experiment 13?
16/20 didn’t follow the ordinary man’s instructions,going as far as to restrain the ordinary man when he goes to u p the ampage whereas 4/20 went up to 450V
What does this suggest about authority?
It suggests that authority is a key factor in obedience levels
What are the strengths of Experiment 13? (3)
Same procedure allows for a direct comparison
Reliable as used in different variations with similar levels of disobedience
Saw accomplice draw lots (rigged) just like participant, meaning participants perceives them both to be of the same authority level
What are the weaknesses of Experiment 13? (6)
Still significant amount of authority: apparatus and approval from Yale
Having another ‘participant’ may not be enough to remove the power difference
Artificial Surroundings
Changes to trust if trusting experimenter
Validity decreases when ordinary gives instructions
Experimenter leaving creates awkwardness and undermines credibility (lack of validity)
The participant was asked to read a series of word pairs to the learner and administer electric shock of
increasing voltage for every incorrect answer
The learner would be respond in ways such as
moaning
requests to be excused
agonised screams
kicking the wall and begging to be released
Participant were given verbal prods such as
‘Please continue’
‘The experiment requires that you continue’
‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’
‘You have no other choice, you must go on’
All 40 participants obeyed up to
300V at which point 5 refused to continue
65% of participants gave shocks up to
450V
What signs of stress did some of the participants give during the experiment?
They sweated, trembled, dug their fingernails into their flesh and visibly shook, 3 had seizures
