Social area: Milgram Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the ‘germans are different’ hypothesis?

A

An idea which was assumed post ww2 that German’s had a character defect which made it possible for them to carry out the holocaust

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2
Q

What was Milgram’s aim?

A

To investigate what level of obedience participants would go to when asked to deliver electric shocks to someone by an authority figure

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3
Q

What was Milgram’s research method?

A

Lab experiment, Observation

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4
Q

Describe the sample used in Milgram’s study

A

40 white males from New Haven aged 20-50 in varying ‘white collar’ jobs

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5
Q

What sampling method did Milgram use?

A

Self selecting

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6
Q

How did Milgram obtain his sample?

A

They responded to a newspaper ad which offered $4.50 just for showing up

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7
Q

What is a weakness of Milgram’s original sample?

A

It didn’t include women and people over the age of 50

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8
Q

What is a weakness of Milgram’s method of obtaining his sample?

A

Only a certain type of people will volunteer and therefore it isn’t representative of the general population

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9
Q

What is a strength of Milgram’s sample?

A

Good sample size and represents the people in Germany at the time

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10
Q

What is a strength of the way that Milgram obtained his sample?

A

He could tailor his advert to get p’s that suited his criteria

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11
Q

What were participants told that the experiment was investigating?

A

The effect of punishment on memory and learning

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12
Q

What role did the participant play?

A

Teacher

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13
Q

Who was strapped into the chair?

A

The learner (a confederate)

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14
Q

What were P’s told about the shocks?

A

That they were not harmful

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15
Q

What was the strength of the sample shock that p’s received?

A

45V

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16
Q

What was the name of the task that the learner had to complete?

A

Word-pair task

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17
Q

What happened to the learner each time they got a question wrong?

A

They were administered an electric shock

18
Q

How much did the shocks increase each time the learner gave a wrong answer?

A

15V

19
Q

If the teacher showed some discomfort, how would the experimenter reply?

A

Using a ‘prod’

20
Q

Give an example of 2 of the prods used

A

‘Please continue’, ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’

21
Q

At what point did the experiment end?

A

When either 450V was reacher or the participant withdrew

22
Q

After the experiment had ended what happened?

A

P’s were debriefed and told the real nature of the experiment and were re-introduced to the learner who was in fact unharmed

23
Q

Give 3 controls used in Milgram’s study

A

Same reactions from the learner

Same responses given by the experimenter

24
Q

Where did the study take place?

A

Yale University

25
Q

What percentage of participants administered the shock of 300V?

A

100%

26
Q

What percentage of participants administered the final shock of 450V?

A

65%

27
Q

Throughout the experiment, P’s were showing signs of acute stress, give 3 examples of this

A

Sweating, stuttering, digging fingers into flesh

28
Q

Give on quote said by participants throughout the course of the experiment

A

‘Oh god, let’s stop it’

29
Q

What did Milgram conclude from his study?

A

That Germans are not different because white, middle class Americans are just as capable of inflicting harm as the Germans were in WW2

30
Q

Give 3 reasons why the participants displayed such high levels of obedience

A

Because…

1) Took part in prestigious uni
2) P felt obliged to complete the study as they were paid
3) The learner was willing to take part

31
Q

How did Milgram break the guideline of informed consent?

A

P’s weren’t aware of the true aims of the experiment, they had only consented to the memory and learning task

32
Q

How did Milgram break the guideline of withdrawal?

A

He did not allow P’s to withdraw and told P’s that they must continue

33
Q

How did Milgram break the guideline of protection from harm?

A

P’s were distressed and in 2 cases seizures occurred

34
Q

In what way did Milgram deceive the P’s?

A

He made them believe that they were causing harm to the learner, aims were also deceived

35
Q

Which 2 ethical guidelines did Milgram uphold?

A

Confidentiality and debrief

36
Q

Was Milgram’s study internally reliable? (standardised and replicable)

A

Yes - the procedure was repeated with 40 participants with clear controls and objective measures

37
Q

Was Milgram’s study externally reliable? (sample large enough to suggest consistent effect)

A

Yes - sample size of 40 would suggest a fairly consistent effect

38
Q

Was the study internally valid? (was it testing obedience)

A

Yes - there is no evidence that P’s had guessed the aims of the experiment (didn’t display demand characteristics

39
Q

To what extent was the study externally valid? (population validity)

A

Was only about male obedience and Americans and therefore we cannot generalise from this

40
Q

Was the study ecologically valid?

A

Not like real life however could be argued to be similar to the tasks faced by people in Nazi Germany