situational variables (milgram)

Question 1

limitation:may have been undermined by demand characteristics

Answer 1

E:a research assistant divided the participants in “doubters” and “believers” category. he found that those who were doubters were more likely to shock the learner to the maximum.
E:the doubters willingness to shock the learner may have been due to them recognising the task was fake and guessing the aim of the experiment leading to them altering their behaviour to please milligram. this means that demand characteristics may have compromised the internal validity of the research. however their is also evidence that suggests many participants were unaware of the fake tasks ..during the procedure many displays signs of anxiety and stress (such as stuttering, lip biting, sweat,fiddling). so the extent to which we can accept milligrams findings on obedience largely depend on the extent at which we believe the behaviour of the participants was a genuine response to orders from an authority figure.

Question 1

strength:its eological validity

Answer 1

E:Milgram’s research required participants to follow instructions of an experimenter. this was delivered in a laboratory
E:this might have been criticised for lacking ecological validity as the artificial settings may have influenced the participants in acting unnatural. however it can also be argued that the laboratory gave the experimenter their authority as It may have mirrored the realistic nature of many instances of destructive obedience for example in nazi Germany soldiers were instructed to torture prisoners by senior officers. this setting therefore allowed milligram to create a realistic situations where participants believed they were receiving an order from an authority figure.
L:the realism displayed in the study increases its ecological validity meaning his findings can be generalised beyond the lab setting.