Milgram (obedience) Flashcards
AO1 - baseline
obedience = form of social influence where an individual follows a direct order & the person issuing the order is a figure of authority with the power to punish
baseline:
- 40 American men (aged 20-50) volunteered (study supposedly on memory)
- draw for learner/teacher was fixed –> all = teachers
- experimenter involved in grey lab coat
- experimenter ordered teacher to give increasing electric shocks to learner located in a separate room (15 to 450 volts) if confederate (learner) gave incorrect answer when remembering pair of words
- experimenter gave 4 separate prods
findings^^:
- every participant delivered shocks till 300 volts
- 12.5% (5) stopped at 300 volts
- 65% continued to highest level of 450 volts
- milgram collected qualitative data too via observations of participants eg. sweating, showing extreme tension etc.
AO1 continued - other data/conclusions
other data:
- prior to the study, Milgram asked 14 psych students to predict behaviour –> estimated no more than 3% would continue to 450V
- all participants debriefed & sent follow up questionnaire –> 84% said they were glad to have participated
conclusions:
- german people are not ‘different’
- certain factors may have influenced obedience
strength - research support as replicated in a French documentary
E: the documentary (Beauvois et. al 2012) focused on a game show made for the programme. The participants of the ‘game’ thought they were contestants in a pilot episode for a new show. they were paid to give (fake) shocks to other participants (ordered by presenter) in front of studio audience. 80% delivered the max. 460V to an apparently unconscious man.
T: supports Milgram’s original findings on obedience to authority
weakness - Milgram’s study may not have been testing what it intended to (low internal validity)
E: he reported that 75% said they believed the shocks were real but, Orne & Holland (1968) argued the participants behaved as they did as they didn’t truly believe in the set-up (play-acting). Perry’s (2013) research confirms this as she listened to the tapes where many expressed doubts
T: participants may have been responding to demand characteristics
counterpoint to low internal validity^^
E: Sheridan & King (1972) conducted similar study & participants gave real shocks to a puppy due to orders from experimenter –> 54% men & 100% gave (what they believed to be) a fatal shock
T: suggests the effects in Milgram’s study were genuine as people behaved obediently even when shocks were real
weakness - Milgram’s conclusions on blind obedience may not be justified
E: Hasam et. al (2014) showed Milgram’s participants obeying when experimenter was delivering the 1st 3 verbal prods. However, every participant given a 4th prod disobeyed. According to social identity theory (SIT), participants only obeyed when they identified with the scientific aims of the research & when ordered to blindly obey, they refused.
T: shows that SIT may provide a more valid interpretation of Milgram’s findings
weakness - ethical issues
E: they were deceived as they thought the allocation of the roles between learner/teacher was random but it was fixed. They also thought the shocks were real. (he dealt with this by debriefing)
However, Baumrind (1964) criticised Milgram for deceiving as it could have serious consequences for participants/researchers in psychological studies
