SOCIAL INFLUENCE - OBEDIENCE Flashcards
What did Miligram design
baseline procedure that could be used to assess obedience levels
obedience
form of social influence in whihc an individual follows a direct order
discuss procedure of test
40 american men - volunteered to take part in a memory study
when arrived greeted by a confederate/partipcint
drew a lot to see who would be teacher and learner - lot was fixed so pt always teacher
also an experimentere - dressed in gray lab coat
learner had to rember a pair of words eahc time got them wrong got increasing shock
when teachergot to 300 volts learner pounded on the wall and gave no repsosne to next q
at 315 volts pounded on wall again then silent for rest of procedure
4 prods the experimenter used to order teacher to conitnue
1- please continue
2- teh experiment requires that you continue
3- its absolutley essential you continue
4- you have no choice but to continue
when miligramd design were adapted what where they used for
to mkae ocmparisons
what was the sample
40 american men
volunteered to take part in a study - on memenry
when each volunteer arived they were introduced to
another pt (confederate of miligrams)w
they vounteer drew lots to determine
who wold be teacher T and who would be learner L
The draw was
fixed
why was draw fixed
so pt always the teacher
describe the otehr person ivolved
experiemtner E
(confederate dressed in a grey lab coat )
what did thestudy aim to assess
obedience in a situation where an authority figure (experimenter) ordered participant (teacher) to give increasingly strong shocks to learner located in diff room
describe the range of shock
15 volts to 450volts
describe the shocks
fake but teacher didnt know this
how many pt delivered all shocks up to 300 volts
all
what percentage of pt stopped at 300 volts
12.5%
how many pt continud to teh highest level of volts
i.e were fully obedient
65%
miligram alos collected
qualitative data
what qualitative data did milgram collect
observations
what were the observations milgram collected
pt showing signs of extreme trnsions e.g tremble , stutter , bite their lips
3 had full blown uncontrollable seizures
before the study what did milgram do
asked 14 psych pt to predict pt behaviour
what did the students estimate
no more than 3 % of pt would continue to 450 volts
based on psych students underestimating how obedient people actually are how would we describe the findings
unexpected
after the study what was doe to pt
debriefed
and assured their behaviour was entirley normal
also sent a follow up questionnaire
in the follow up questionnaire what % of people said they were glad to have pt
84%
what did milgram conclude
german people not different
why did milgram conclude german people werent differnt
as american pt were willing to obey orders even thogh may harm another person
why did milgrma conduct further studies
suspected there were certain factos in the situation that encouraged obedience
what are our a03 points
ethical issues
good external validity
lack internal validity
LIMITATION - ETHICAL ISSUES
broke several x guidelines
he x pt for example x of role x that was x
due to x of task Milgram didnt protect pt from x x
since many of them showed signs of x x in experiment and may have continued to feel x following the x knowing they could’ve x another human x
some x of Milgram believed these x could serve to x x of psychology and x future research
broke several ethical guidelines
he decieved pt for example rigging of role allocation that was predetermined
due to nature of task Milgram didnt protect pt from psychological harm
since many of them showed signs of real distress in experiment and may have continued to feel guilty following the exp knowing they could’ve harmed another human being
some critics of Milgram believed these breaches could serve to damage reputation of psychology and jeopardise future research
STRENGTH - GOOD EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Although at first x seem to lack x x as it was conducted in a x
it was argued the x between x xand the x,x reflected wider x relationships in real x
research conducted by x et al supports this claim as x on hospital ward were x and they found x levels of obedience to x x by doctors with x/22 nurses obeying
this suggests x of obedience to x that occured in the x study can be x to other situations, giving us x info about x in real x
Although at first glance seem to lack external validity as it was conducted in a lab
it was argued the relationship between authority figure and the pt accurately reflected wider authority relationships in real life
research conducted by hoffling et al supports this claim as nurses on hospital ward were studied and they found high levels of obedience to unjustified demands by doctors with 21/22 nurses obeying
this suggests processes of obedience to authority that occured in the lab study can be generalised to other situations, giving us valuable info about obedience in real life
LIMITAITON - Lack of internal validity
psychologists claimed pt didnt x in the x of exp
as despite fact learner cried out in pain, experimenter remained x and x - lead pt to x victim couldn’t be x any x harm
to support this perry listed x of milgrmas pt and discovered many expressed x at time about whether the x were x
this therefore means pt may have just been x x with study and not behaving x , suggesting milgram not x what he claimed
therefore lowering the x validity of his findings
psychologists claimed pt didnt believe in the setup of exp
as despite fact learner cried out in pain, experimenter remained cool and distant - lead pt to believe victim couldn’t be suffering any real harm
to support this perry listed tapes of milgrmas pt and discovered many expressed doubts at time about whether the shocks were real
this therefore means pt may have just been going along with study and not behaving naturally , suggesting milgram not testing what he claimed
therefore lowering the internal vlidity of his findings
