Social Area - Milgram Flashcards
What is the background to Milgram’s study?
He was interested in what made so many people kill the Jewish people in command of Nazi Germany
What did the participants think they were taking part in and what was the actual study about?
Participants thought they were taking part in a study which investigated the effects of punishment on memory. However, Milgram was interested in the point at which participants refused to conduct electric shocks
Describe the participants:
Location: New Haven Total number: 40 Age: 20-50 Sampling method: self-selected through newspaper advertisement and mail Reward: $4.50 for simply coming to lab
Where was the study conducted?
Yale University
What was the role of the lab experimenter and the victim?
The lab experimenter remained stern throughout the experiment.
The victims was found to be mild-mannered and likeable
How was the ‘teacher’ and ‘learner’ role selected?
Used a rigged system where the naive participant and victim drew slips out of a hat - the naive ppt always ended up as the ‘teacher’
Describe the learning task:
A word-pair task where teachers read a series of word pairs and then read the first word of the pair along with four terms. The learner communicated his answer by pressing one of four switches which lit up in an answer-box
Describe the shock generator:
Consisted of 30 switches ranging from 15 volts to 450 volts. There was an increment of 15V
What we’re the verbal designations on the shock generator?
Slight shock Moderate shock Strong shock Very strong shock Intense shock Extreme intensity shock Danger: severe shock XXX
What did the experimenter declare in response to a question by the ‘learner’ at the start of the procedure?
‘Although the shocks can be extremely painful, they cause no permanent tissue damage’
Describe the sample shock:
Each naive ppt ‘teacher’ was given a sample shock of 45V in their wrist. This was done to convince the ppt of the authenticity of the generator
Describe the shock instructions:
Each time the learner gave a wrong answer, teachers must announce the voltage, administer a shock and move one level up
Describe the feedback from victim:
Victims answers were predetermined - 3 wrong answers to 1 correct answer
At 300V kicked all
At 315V kicked wall again
After that, no feedback at all
Teachers were instructed to wait 5-10 seconds before treating absence of response as a wrong answer and so administer a shock
Describe the experimenter feedback:
Experimenter used ‘prods’
- Please continue
- The experiment requires that you continue
- It is absolutely essential that you continue
- You have no other choice, you must continue
What was the dependent measure?
All ppts who did not continue to 450V were deemed as ‘defiant’ and ‘obedient’ ppts were those who complied and administered all shocks
Describe the interview and dehoax:
Ppts were interviewed after experiment and effort was made to reduce tension to ensure ppts left the lab in a state of well-being
What we’re the predicted results?
14 final year students at Yale predicted that only a small number of ppts would go to the end of the shock series
What we’re the actual results of the experiment?
No one broke off from the experiment before 300V
26 ppts went up to 450V
What was observed of the ppts administering shocks?
Sweating Trembling Biting lips Digging nails into flesh Stuttering
What was observed in 14 of the participants?
Nervous laughter and smiling
What was observed in 3 of the participants?
Uncontrollable seizures
What was the first conclusion made by Milgram?
The situation produced extremely strong tendencies to obey
What was the second conclusion made by Milgram?
The situation generates extraordinary tension and emotions strain
What features of the experiment may explain the conclusion that the situation produced strong tendencies to obey?
- Took place in Yale - high reputation
- Participants were payed which increases obligation to help experimenter
- Participants were under the impression that learner and teacher had same possibility of being the learner and so could not complain
- As long as learner continued to provide answers it could be suggested that they were still willing to ‘play the game’
- Participants were assured that despite the shocks being painful, there was no permanent damage
What features of the experiment may explain the conclusion that the situation generates extraordinary tension and emotional strain?
- Participants were asked to respond to competing demands of experimenter and victim
- The demands of experimenter (scientific knowledge) and victim ( relief from physical suffering) were different
- The experiment gave the participant little time to reflect
- There was a disposition not to harm other people and the tendency to obey those perceived as a legitimate authority
Research method:
Experiment because use of DV and controls
DV = defiant/obedient ppts Controls = same shock generator, same people played ‘learner’ and ‘experimenter’ and the ‘learner’s’ response was the same each time
no use of IV bur carried out a series of variation of his original study using only females and conducting it in an office rather than Yale
Outline an issues with classing Milgram study as an experiment:
His first study had no independent variable and it became the baseline control condition - he carried out variations of his original study
Outline an example of the quantitative data used in the study and a benefit of this:
Example: percentage of people administering electric shocks to the learner
Benefit: allows to compare from one variation of the study to another
Give an example of the qualitative data in the study and outline a benefit of this:
Example: sweating and trembling
Benefit: reveals that the ‘teachers’ followed instructions but did so without pleasure and were in great emotional discomfort
Outline the problems with ethics in this study:
- Ppts were deceived
- Ppts were unable to give informed consent
- Ppts were harmed ‘uncontrollable seizures’
State the ethical guidelines that were followed:
- Ppts consented to take part
- No names of individuals were reported
- Ppts given a debrief
Explain how the study has high face validity:
The study appears to measure what it aimed to - obedience
What is an argument against the face validity of the study?
It is not obvious that obedience was due to authority. There could be other factors such as levels of moral courage or levels of empathy.
Why is this study low in ecological validity?
We wouldn’t normally be instructed to generate electric shocks because a wrong answer is given
How is this study low in ecological validity relating to the background of the study (Nazi Germany)
- (Nazi) people killed in groups rather than individually
- (Nazi) people killed with gas rather than electric shocks
- (Milgram) ppts did not fear negative consequences if disobedient
- (Milgram) no one was actually killed
How is the study high in ecological validity relating to the background (Nazi Germany)
- Explicitly instructions were given (to cause suffering)
- Payment was given to those carrying out the acts
- Those being harmed were invisible to those harming them
- Those carrying out the acts were convinced that their actions were serving some bigger, socially worthwhile purpose
