SOCIAL: Milgram Flashcards
what was the aim?
to investigate if people would be obedient to orders from a person in authority that would result in harm of another person
what was the research method and design?
lab experiment
controlled observation
what is the situational hypothesis?
that people act and behave due to the situation they’re put in
what is the sample?
40 men aged 20-50 new haven area, USA volunteer sampling through newspaper advertisement white collar workers and professionals
what is the sample?
40 men aged 20-50 new haven area, USA volunteer sampling through newspaper advertisement white collar workers and professionals were given $4.50 for participation
what was the procedure?
took place in Yale university in a modern lab
participants arrived individually and were introduced to the stooge; a likable middle-aged man
a paper was drawn from a hat to determine the roles of the roles of the teacher and learner and the participant was always the teacher
participant was taken to another room where the stooge was strapped to a chair and had electrodes attached to him by the experimenter
participant was told the shocks were painful but not harmful and was given an example shock of 45V
when learner would make a mistake on the memory task, participant was instructed to give them a shock from the generator increasing the voltage 15V every time
learner was instructed to give incorrect answers
at 300V the learner would begin to pound on the wall and be silent and stop responding to the task
if asked, experimenter would insist that participant should continue with prods
procedure was considered complete when participant refused to give more shocks or when 450V was reached on generator
a one way mirror was used to observe physical and verbal behavior
participants were interviewed and debriefed
asked to rate how painful they thought 450V was 0-14
met learner to reassure they’re not injured
describe the shock generator?
rows of switches
15V to 450V
labelled in ascending order with words such as ‘moderate shock’ to ‘danger’ and the final two had ‘XXX’
describe the experimenter?
a 31 year old man who wore a grey coat and had a stern manner throughout the experiment
what the memory task?
the participant reads a pair of words to learner and test them on their recognition of the words
what are the verbal prods?
please continue
please go on
it is absolutely essential that you continue
the experiment requires that you continue
you have no other choice, you must continue
these were standardized
what were the results?
participants were convinced it was real mean estimate of pain 450V was 13.42/14 mean voltage 368V all participants reached 300V 65% reached 450V
qualitative data:
showed signs of tension
signs of nervousness increased with the increase of voltage
sweating and shaking
14 out of 40 showed nervous laughter or smiling
after procedure was over, participants showed relief by wiping their faces, sighing and shaking their faces
a small minority appeared calm
what is destructive obedience?
obedience that has the potential to cause physical or psychological harm to another
what were the comments made?
‘i don’t think i can go on with this’
‘i don’t think this is very humane’
‘i’m gonna chicken out’
‘i can’t do that to a man, ill hurt his heart’
what were the conclusions?
supports the situational explanation for obedience
individuals are more obedient to figures of authority than we think
participants found the experience of carrying out destructive acts under orders of authority figures highly stressful. this is due to the conflict between two social phenomena’s; obey those in authority and the need to avoid harming others
