Psychology - Social Influence - Milgram Short Answer

Question 1

when was the experiment conducted

Answer 1

1963

Question 2

what did his study show

Answer 2

that ordinary people are obedient to authority

Question 3

pros of the experiment

Answer 3

-strict control of variables
- lab study
- showed clear cause and
effect

Question 4

cons of the experiment

Answer 4

• low ecological validity, cannot be generalised to daily life
• deception, were not given informed consent because they did not know the real nature of the study
• lack of protection, participants were visibly stressed during the study

Question 5

procedure

Answer 5

participants sent electric shocks of increasing intensity to ‘learners’ when they answered questions incorrectly. participants continued to shock learners even when the ‘learners’ asked them to stop because the experimenter had told them to do so.

Question 6

predictions

Answer 6

Milgram asked college students to predict how long they would go before refusing to continue.

• few would go beyond 150volts
• 1 in 1,000 would do the full 450volts

Question 7

findings

Answer 7

• 26/40 participants (65%) continued to maximum shock level 450volts
• all participants went to 300volts but only 5 stopped there (12.5%)

Question 8

proximity

Answer 8

• obedience levels fell to 40% when the teacher and the learner were in the same room.
• in one variation the teacher had to place the learners hand onto the plate, the obedience rate dropped to 30%
• when the experimenter left the room it dropped to 21% of participants continuing to the maximum shock levels

Question 9

location

Answer 9

• Psychology Lab in Yale University - confidence and integrity to the participants, they would not have shocked the learner if the study was done elsewhere
• Moved to a Run-down Office in Bridgeport - obedience rates did drop slightly but not significantly with 48% of participants delivering 450volt max shock compared to 65% at Yale

Question 10

the power of uniform

Answer 10

uniforms can impact obedience. power and authority presented through the uniform.
Bushman 1988 - study where a female dressed as a police officer/business executive and a beggar and asked people to give change to a male researcher for an expired parking meter.
police officer - 72% people obeyed
business executive - 48% people obeyed
beggar - 52% people obeyed
-people claimed they had obeyed because the women in uniform appeared to have authority

Question 11

evaluation point

Answer 11

Internal Validity - Lack of Realism
Orne and Holland 1968 claimed that pp’s in psychological studies have learnt to distrust experimenters because they know that the true purpose of the study may be disguised
Perry 2012 discovered that many of milgram’s participants had been sceptical that the shocks were real
-This finding challenges validity and suggests that when faced with the reality of destructive obedience people are more likely to disobey an authority figure