Milgram 1963

Question 1

What was the sample of Milgram’s study?

Answer 1

40 male ps aged between 20 and 50 years from New Haven

Question 2

What is the procedure?

Answer 2

Ps always ended up as the teacher and they would give the ‘learner’ a set of word pairs and they had to learn them. They were then tested on these and every time they got a word wrong the ps had to give the learner an electric shock that went up 15 Volts. The ‘learner’ would deliberately give the wrong answer, and were not hurt as they were not wired to the electric chair. The experimenter was wearing a lab coat, suggesting authority, would tell them to continue with the test if any stopped and asked about the ‘learner’. At 300 Volts the learner banged on the wall and at 315 Volts they banged once again and never respond after that.

Question 3

What are 2 findings?

Answer 3

1) 100% of ps went to 300 Volts, 5 refused to shock further

2) 65% were classed as obedient as they went to the max 450 Volts

Question 4

What is 1 conclusion?

Answer 4

People are obedient to authority figures