Lesson 7: Explanations of Obedience- Situational Variables

Question 1

What are the three situational variables Milgram investigated in regards to obedience?

Answer 1

Proximity
Location
Uniform

Question 2

How did Milgram investigate proximity?

Answer 2

Milgram placed learner in same room as teacher: Obedience went from 65% to 40%
When teacher had to force hand onto plate (touch proximity): Obedience went from 65% to 30%
When experimenter was in another room: Obedience from 65% to 20.5%

Question 3

How did Milgram investigate location?

Answer 3

He performed the experiment in Yale and in a run-down building. From Yale -> run-down building. Obedience: 65% -> 47.5%

Question 4

How did Milgram investigate uniform?

Answer 4

Experiment with lab coat and without lab coat. Obedience went from 65% to 20%

Question 5

What are the strengths of Milgram’s variations?

Answer 5

• research support: Bickman (1974) used guards outfit and milkman’s outfit to see if ppts obeyed. 80% obeyed guard and 40% obeyed milkman
• cross cultural replication: Milgram’s findings were also replicated by Miranda et al (1981) and found obedience rates of 90% however Bond and Smith (1998) say that it hasn’t been applied to developing countries.

Question 6

What are the weaknesses of Milgram’s variations?

Answer 6

• lack of internal validity: Orne and Holland say ppts would be able to tell its fake and show demand characteristics
• the obedience alibi: David Mandel (1998) says that people can use these factors as feeble excuses for committing bad actions