Social Studies Flashcards
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Aim
- Understand the behaviour of germans following orders to kill over 10 million people
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Volunteer Sample
- 40 Men
- Ages 20-50
- Volunteer sampling through newpaper adveritsement
- Offered £4.50
Milgram Classic Study
Who were pps introduced to ?
- Experimenter: ‘mild-mannered, likeable’
- Confederate: introduced as another pps/a learner
- Real pps were always the teacher
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Procedure
- Teacher told to shock the learner for every mistake on word test
- Voltage increasing by 15 each time, fake shocks
- Learner taken to a different room
- Pps protested: told 4 prods (‘Please continue’, ‘Experiment requires that you continue’ etc)
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Findings
- 65% administered 450V shock
- 100% administered 300V shock
- Pps trembled, sweat, dug nails into skin,seizures (Moral strain)
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Conclusion
- Americans obedient to authority
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram: Variation 7
- Instructions given over the phone to pps
- Obedeince dropped, only 22.5% went to 450V
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram: Variation 10
- Testing power of location
- Moved study to a rundown office block
- Same procedure, inclusing payment
- Same volunteers
-Obdeince dropped to 47.5%
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram: Variation 13
- Experimenter explains procedure then gets called away
- New confederate suggests taking voltage up by 15 each mistake instead of the suposed job ‘writing down times’
- Obedience dropped to 20%
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram: Variation13a
- Rebelled variation 13 pps moved into a ‘new study’
- Confederate suggests swapping places, pps ‘writes down times’
- Pps bystander watching confederate administrate shocks
- All pps protested, trying to unplug shock generator
- 68.75% obeyed
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Proof of Autonomous State
- 35% disobeyed 450V shocks
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Proof of Moral Strain
- 14pps nervous laughter
- 3 seizures
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Strength
Reliability
Reliability:
- Standard procedure - increased by 15V each time
- Same shocks/prods
- Experiment can be replicated to check consistent results
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Strength
Internal Validity
Internal Validity:
- Milgram decieved pps on the aim (‘memory experiment’)
- Deception avoids demand characteristics
- Accurate data, they do not change behaviour
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Weakness
Generalisability
Generalisability:
- 40 men, 20-50 aged, from New Haven USA
- Limited generalisability, does not include women or non western countries
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Weakness
Ecological Validity
Ecological Validity:
- Task was artificial, no real shocks
- 65% obedience, does not represent real life obedience
- Not everyday occurence
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Strength
Application
Application:
- Demonstrates power of authority figure
- Proves agentic and autonomous state
- Useful in everyday society in policing,schools, etc.
Milgram Classic Study
Milgram Strength/Weakness
Ethics
Ethics Strength:
- Volunteer sampling, there was consent and debrief of experiment
- Protection of pps
Ethics Weakness:
- Deception over aim/no fully informed consent
- 4 prods - no right to withdraw
- Guidelines broken
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Aim
- Are Milgrams findings era bound
- Is obedience effected by gender
- Is obedience effected by personality traits (empathetic concern, desire for control)
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Sample
- Volunteer Sampling
- 70 adults, 29 men, 41 women
- Aged 20-80
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Strength
Reliability
Relaibilty:
- Standardised procedure, replicate results easily
- #5 pre recorded grunts ‘starting to bother me now’
- #17 confederate teacher refused at 90V same for every pps = replicable
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Strength
Validity
Validity:
- Experiment effects controlled by giving authority figure a script for the prods, little variation in pps heard
- Deceived by the aim of experiment (‘memory test’), lower demand characteristics so no change in behaviour
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Weakness
Generalisabilty
Generalisability:
- Low population validity
- Not very representitive sample
- 70pps, 21M 49F
- Not representitve of other countries
Burger Contemporary Study
Burger Weakness
Ecological Validity
Ecological Validity:
- Doesnt reflect everyday behaviour
- Pps shock learner, doesnt occur in everyday life
- Limited accuracy