Social area: Milgram Flashcards
What is the ‘germans are different’ hypothesis?
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
What was Milgram’s aim?
To investigate what level of obedience participants would go to when asked to deliver electric shocks to someone by an authority figure
What was Milgram’s research method?
Lab experiment, Observation
Describe the sample used in Milgram’s study
40 white males from New Haven aged 20-50 in varying ‘white collar’ jobs
What sampling method did Milgram use?
Self selecting
How did Milgram obtain his sample?
They responded to a newspaper ad which offered $4.50 just for showing up
What is a weakness of Milgram’s original sample?
It didn’t include women and people over the age of 50
What is a weakness of Milgram’s method of obtaining his sample?
Only a certain type of people will volunteer and therefore it isn’t representative of the general population
What is a strength of Milgram’s sample?
Good sample size and represents the people in Germany at the time
What is a strength of the way that Milgram obtained his sample?
He could tailor his advert to get p’s that suited his criteria
What were participants told that the experiment was investigating?
The effect of punishment on memory and learning
What role did the participant play?
Teacher
Who was strapped into the chair?
The learner (a confederate)
What were P’s told about the shocks?
That they were not harmful
What was the strength of the sample shock that p’s received?
45V
What was the name of the task that the learner had to complete?
Word-pair task
What happened to the learner each time they got a question wrong?
They were administered an electric shock
How much did the shocks increase each time the learner gave a wrong answer?
15V
If the teacher showed some discomfort, how would the experimenter reply?
Using a ‘prod’
Give an example of 2 of the prods used
‘Please continue’, ‘It is absolutely essential that you continue’
At what point did the experiment end?
When either 450V was reacher or the participant withdrew
After the experiment had ended what happened?
P’s were debriefed and told the real nature of the experiment and were re-introduced to the learner who was in fact unharmed
Give 3 controls used in Milgram’s study
Same reactions from the learner
Same responses given by the experimenter
Where did the study take place?
Yale University
What percentage of participants administered the shock of 300V?
100%
What percentage of participants administered the final shock of 450V?
65%
Throughout the experiment, P’s were showing signs of acute stress, give 3 examples of this
Sweating, stuttering, digging fingers into flesh
Give on quote said by participants throughout the course of the experiment
‘Oh god, let’s stop it’
What did Milgram conclude from his study?
That Germans are not different because white, middle class Americans are just as capable of inflicting harm as the Germans were in WW2
Give 3 reasons why the participants displayed such high levels of obedience
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
How did Milgram break the guideline of informed consent?
P’s weren’t aware of the true aims of the experiment, they had only consented to the memory and learning task
How did Milgram break the guideline of withdrawal?
He did not allow P’s to withdraw and told P’s that they must continue
How did Milgram break the guideline of protection from harm?
P’s were distressed and in 2 cases seizures occurred
In what way did Milgram deceive the P’s?
He made them believe that they were causing harm to the learner, aims were also deceived
Which 2 ethical guidelines did Milgram uphold?
Confidentiality and debrief
Was Milgram’s study internally reliable? (standardised and replicable)
Yes - the procedure was repeated with 40 participants with clear controls and objective measures
Was Milgram’s study externally reliable? (sample large enough to suggest consistent effect)
Yes - sample size of 40 would suggest a fairly consistent effect
Was the study internally valid? (was it testing obedience)
Yes - there is no evidence that P’s had guessed the aims of the experiment (didn’t display demand characteristics
To what extent was the study externally valid? (population validity)
Was only about male obedience and Americans and therefore we cannot generalise from this
Was the study ecologically valid?
Not like real life however could be argued to be similar to the tasks faced by people in Nazi Germany
