Social Influence: Milgram Flashcards
what’s obedience?
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order. the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority, who has the power to punish when obedient behaviour isn’t forthcoming.
what were Milgram’s participants?
40 male participants, recruited through adverts and flyers looking for participants for a memory study. they were between 20-50 years old and offered $4.50 to take part.
what happened when the participants first walked in?
a confederate was the learner while the participant was the teacher. an experimenter dressed in a lab coat was an actor. participants were told they could leave at any time.
what was the experiment?
the learner was strapped to a chair. the teacher had to give an electric shock for every wrong answer (not real shocks). 15V was first increasing up to 300V (labelled intense shock) and 450V (danger). at 300V, the learner pounded on the wall and gave no response and again at 315V. when the teacher turned to the experimenter for guidance, the experimenter said “an absence of response should be treated as a wrong answer”. there were 4 prods if the teacher felt unsure.
what were the findings?
100% went up to 300V, 12.5% stopped at 300V. 65% continued to 450V. qualitative data showed participants were showing signs of distress. after the participants were debriefed and in a questionaire 84% said they were glad they participated.
how does Milgram’s study have low internal validity?
Orne + Holland argued participants behaved the way they did because they knew it wasn’t real electric shocks. his test doesn’t test what he intended it to test. Perry watched tapes of Milgram’s study and reported that many of them expressed doubts about the shocks. however Sheridan and King did a similar study where real shocks were given to a puppy. 54% males and 100% females deliviered a thought to be fatal shock.
how does Milgram’s study have good external validity? (A03)
the centre feature was the relationship between authority figure and participant. the lab environment was an accurate reflection of wider authority relationships in real life. Hofling studied nurses in a hospital ward and found obedience levels to unjustified demands by doctors was high. suggesting Milgram’s study can be generalised to other situations
what’s the supporting replication of Milgram’s study? (A03)
Le Jeu de la Mort is a documentary about reality tv, it includes a replication of Milgram’s study. the participants belived they were contestants in a pilot episode for a new game show and were giving fake shocks when ordered by the presenter to other participants. 80% delivered the maximum 460V to an unconscious man. this replication supports Milgram’s study.
