Situational Obedience, Milgram (1963) - SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Question 1

when was Milgram’s situational obedience study

Answer 1

1963

Question 2

what was the topic of research (Milgram, 1963)

Answer 2

situational explanations of obedience

Question 3

what inspired Milgram’s study

Answer 3

“the german question” - the bad reputation all Germans had because of the way soldiers treated others throughout ww2
upset at rise in prejudice towards Germans in USA

Question 4

what title from a US newspaper gained global popularity and negatively impacted all German reputation

Answer 4

“Germans are Evil”

Question 5

aim of the study

Answer 5

that anyone under the same circumstances could easily be persuaded to commit immoral and harmful acts

Question 6

4 key terms Milgram concluded

Answer 6

autonomous state, agentic state, agentic shift and legitimacy of authority

Question 7

what is autonomous state

Answer 7

your actions are under your own control

Question 8

what is agentic state

Answer 8

you’ve deferred responsibility to someone else

Question 9

what is agentic shift

Answer 9

the point at which you lose sense of responsibility

Question 10

what is the legitimacy of authority

Answer 10

the features/qualities of the person giving orders that make us obey them

Question 11

what were the three roles of the study

Answer 11

learner, teacher and experimenter

Question 12

how many confederates took part

Answer 12

two - played the learner and experimenter

Question 13

what role did the participant ‘play’

Answer 13

the teacher

Question 14

what did the teacher do in the study

Answer 14

was told to ask learner questions, if they got it wrong the teacher should electrocute them - with a higher voltage each wrong answer (they could not see learner, only hear)

Question 15

what did the experimenter do in the study

Answer 15

mainly just pretended to observe, if asked questions/talked to could only say limited phrases

Question 16

what were the measurements of voltage

Answer 16

15v-450v

Question 17

at what voltage did the learner go quiet

Answer 17

300v

Question 18

what percentage of participants electrocuted the learner up to 300v

Answer 18

100%

Question 19

what percentage of participants electrocuted the learner up to 450v

Answer 19

65%

Question 20

what percentage of participants electrocuting up to 450v did Milgram originally predict

Answer 20

0.01%

Question 21

conclusion of the study

Answer 21

all you need is a convincing scenario and legitimate-looking figure of authority for people to do immoral and harmful acts

Question 22

independent variable of study

Answer 22

the level of voltage given

Question 23

dependant variable of study

Answer 23

compliance from participant/ level of voltage given

Question 24

later variation (proximity) what changed

Answer 24

teacher and learner in same room

Question 25

(proximity variation) what did obedience levels fall to

Answer 25

40% went to max voltage

Question 26

(proximity variation) when required to touch electrocuting pad what were obedience levels

Answer 26

30%

Question 27

(proximity variation) when experimenter was absent what were obedience levels

Answer 27

21%

Question 28

later variation (location) what changed

Answer 28

used Yale University - gave ppts confidence

Question 29

(location variation) when moved to office blocks what did rates fall to

Answer 29

40%

Question 30

how does location affect this study

Answer 30

shows legitimacy of authority - if it seems legit people more likely to obey

Question 31

(uniform variation) what were the different uniforms used

Answer 31

police, business suit and ‘tramp’

Question 32

(uniform variation) what were rates of obedience to police uniform

Answer 32

72%

Question 33

(uniform variation) what were rates of obedience to business suit

Answer 33

48%

Question 34

(uniform variation) what were rates of obedience to ‘tramp’

Answer 34

52%

Question 35

ethical issues of experiment

Answer 35

some ppts fell ill afterwards - nightmares, heart attacks and anxiety

Question 36

cost/benefit analysis

Answer 36

important to socially sensitive research - harmed few to save many (german’s being prosecuted)

Question 37

internal validity (Milgram, 1963)

Answer 37

lack of mundane realism and ecological validity