variations of Milgram's study : Proximity, Location + Uniform Flashcards
what were the four variables that milgram investigated that could explain the elevated level of obedience in his original study?
Proximity
Location of the study
Uniform
Social Support (presence of allies)
What is Milgram’s variable ‘proximity of the victim’?
he moved the learner (confederate) into the room as the ppt, so that they can see them receiving the shocks
what was the result from Milgram’s variable ‘proximity of the victim’ and what does this suggest?
reduced obedience level to 40% down from 65%, suggesting ppts being able to see the consequences of their actions reduced obedience
What is the ‘touch condition’ of the ‘Proximity of the victim’ variable and what was the result?
Milgram asked ppts to physically shock the learner.
obedience dropped to 30%, making the consequences of ppts actions even clearer– reduces desire to obey an authority
What is the ‘phone condition’ in the variable ‘Proximity of the victim’ and what was the result?
Milgram changed proximity of researcher so that they’d be in a different room to the ppt, giving them instructions over the phone.
The level of obedience dropped significantly to 20.5%
What is the ‘Location of the study’ variable investigated by Milgram?
-conducted study in a run down office in Bridgeport, Connecticut instead of the Yale University, where ppts felt the staff were authority figures due to being one of the top US universities
What was the point in changing the location of the study and what were the results in doing so?
Variable was to test if location would make a difference on obedience rates
original ppts say they wouldn’t have obeyed if location wasn’t Yale
Obedience rates of ppts to reach 450V dropped to 47.5%, not a big difference.
What is the ‘Uniform’ Variable investigated by Milgram?
What was the uniform at Yale changed to in the downtown variation?
At Yale, researcher was in a lab coat, influencing authority and an increased obedience of ppts.
In downtown variation, researcher wore a cheap suit, making them look less of an authority figure.
Wasn’t that much of a change, so uniform isn’t that much of an important variable.
What did Bickman (1974) do that extends Milgram’s ‘uniform’ variable?
clothed his research assistant in either civilian clothes, a milkman uniform or in a security guard uniform and got him to order strangers on a New York street to either pick up rubbish, loan a coin or move away from a bus stop.
What were the three results for the different types of uniform and levels of obedience investigated my Bickman (1974)?
-19% obeyed civilian clothes
-14% milkman
-38% Security guard uniform
What is the ‘presence of allies (social support)’ variable investigated by Milgram and what was the result + suggesting?
In this variation, Milgram gave his ppt an ally (confederate siding with them) and the level of obedience dropped to 10%, suggesting it is easier to disobey an authority figure if you have someone on your side.
What is a real world example of social support being used to work against an authority?
trade unions
what are trade unions (social support) and what are the two things they exist for?
These are a group of low-level workers who create a group so that they can work against the management.
They exist to prevent against demands being made by them and to protect the rights of individual workers.
What did Orne + Holland (1968) suggest against Milgram’s study that reduces the validity of being able to test obedience in a natural way?
suggested ppts had seen through the deception, especially in variations that were more contrived, and that they were just play acting in response to the demand characteristics.
what is the main strength of Milgram’s study?
supports a situational explanation of obedience where factors in the environment drive the obedience shown, e.g proximity, location, uniform and social support.
