Obedience

Question 1

What is obedience?

Answer 1

When a person follows a direct order- usually given by figure of authority who has the power to punish when orders aren’t followed;

Question 2

What was the aim of Milgram’s study?

Answer 2

He wanted to find out why such a high proportion of German population obeyed Hitler’s commands in WW2- was it that Germans were just particularly obedient;

Question 3

Describe Milgram’s baseline procedure

Answer 3

• 40 American men (volunteers)
• Yale University
• ps arrived and were introduced to another ‘p’ (confederate)
• they drew to see who would be teacher (T) and learner (L)
• p was always (T)
• Experimenter (E) was also in the room
• T had to give L an electric shock every time they made a mistake on a memory test
• 15V to 450V;

Question 4

What were Milgram’s baseline findings (quantitative)?

Answer 4

• 100% ps gave shocks up to 300V
• 12.5% stopper at 300V
• 65% continued to 450V (fully obedient);

Question 5

What were Milgram’s baseline findings (qualitative)?

Answer 5

• ps showed extreme tension
• sweat, trembling, stuttering
• 3 ps had ‘full-blown uncontrollable seizures’;

Question 6

What did Milgram conclude?

Answer 6

• German population are not different
• American so were willing to obey ordered though they may harm another person
  Milgram suspected that there were certain factors in the situation that encouraged obedience so he conducted further experiments;

Question 7

Generalisability of Milgram’s study (-)

Answer 7

this study lacks generalisability
- small sample size: male, american and can’t be generalised to the rest of the population
- out of date study
therefore we cannot use this study as an accurate measure of obedience;

Question 8

Reliability of Milgram’s study (+)

Answer 8

this study is very reliable
- has been replicated many times (also by Milgram himself) with 19 variations
- standardised procedure (all ‘prods’ were scripted)
therefore this study is a reliable test for obedience;

Question 9

Application of Milgram’s study (+)

Answer 9

all findings from this study can be used and applied to real-life situations not improve obedience
- findings from this study can be applied in settings such as schools and prisons to enforce obedience
therefore this study has helped improve workplaces and society for the greater good;

Question 10

Validity of Milgram’s study (-)

Answer 10

this study lacks ecological validity
- ps completed artificial tasks
- not realistic demonstrations of everyday life
therefore due to the nature of the tasks and setting that it was conducted it, this study lacks ecological validity;

Question 11

Is Milgram’s study ethical?

Answer 11

this study has severe ethical issues
- ps well-being was compromised and ignored
- ps were deceived
- ps didn’t give informed consent
- limited right to withdraw
therefore this study does not align with the BPS code of ethics and is not an example of ethical research;