obedience: situational variables

Question 1

What are Milgram’s situational variables?

Answer 1

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Question 2

What is the proximity variation and it’s results?

Answer 2

Teacher and learner in same room

Dropped from 65% to 40%

Question 3

What is the touch proximity variation?

Answer 3

Teacher forced learner’s hand onto electroshock plate

Dropped to 30%

Question 4

What is the remote instruction variation?

Answer 4

Experimenter gave instructions through phone
Dropped to 20.5%
Pretended to give shocks

Question 5

What is the location variation?

Answer 5

Conducted in rundown building

Dropped to 47.5%

Question 6

What is the uniform variation?

Answer 6

Experimenter called away
Replaced by member of public
Dropped to 20%
Lowest obedience rate

Question 7

Evaluation - research support

Answer 7

Bickman - had confederates wear jacket and tie, milkman outfit or security guard uniform
Asked passers by to perform tasks
Twice as likely to obey security guard than jacket and tie

Question 8

Evaluation - lack of internal validity

Answer 8

Replaced by member of public is obviously fake
Milgram recognised it was contrived
Saw through deception

Question 9

Evaluation - cross cultural replications

Answer 9

Miranda - 90% obedience among Spanish students
Conclusions not limited to America
Smith and Bond - replications are all Western
Premature to conclude its universal

Question 10

Evaluation - control of variables

Answer 10

Altered one variable at a time
Saw effect one at a time
1000 total participants

Question 11

Evaluation - the obedience alibi

Answer 11

Mandel - argues this offers alibi for evil behaviour
Offensive to Holocaust survivors
Presents Nazis as victims