Milgram- Variables Affecting Obedience

Question 1

obedience

Answer 1

Obedience is a more direct type of social influence which involves following orders of an individual perceived to be in a position of power (an authority figure).

Milgram says obedience involves losing some form of individual judgement due to social pressure

situational vs dispositional:
WW2- nazis killed millions of Jews
Large numbers of people obeyed and carried out this holocaust
Nuremburg trials- were they evil or obeying orders

-being ordered or instructed to do something by someone else
-being influenced by an authority figure of higher social status

Question 2

Milgram study set up

Answer 2

40 male participants age 20-50
new haven USA- range of jobs
Volunteer sample- paid $4.50
Lab at Yale University
Observation from experimenter in room and through 2way mirror

Participant always given role of teacher though appeared random (fixed lottery
saw ‘learner’ have (non-active) electrodes attached to his hand
given 45v shock to seem genuine

Question 3

milgram study procedure

Answer 3

teacher sits in front of electric shock generator and learner sits attached in adjacent room
word pair test- when learner gets it wring are given a shock with increasing intensity
range from 15-450volts

learner gave pre-recorded responses, 1 right every 3 wrong
after 300v pounded on wall then no further response

if teacher asks experimenter for advice gave set of standardised ‘prods’:
-please continue
-the experiment requires that you continue
-you have no other choice, you must continue

the study finished when the teacher refused to continue (disobedient) or went to 450v (obedient)

then fully debriefed

Question 4

Milgram study results

Answer 4

quantitative:
100% (40) went to 300v as obedient
65% (26) went to 450v
14 were disobedient beyond the 300v
(shows ordinary people likely to follow orders, even up to killing someone)
qualitative:
many showed extreme stress, sweating, trembling
three had seizures

once finished many seemed nervous and regretful, others were calm

Question 5

strength milgram study (replicate)

Answer 5

game of death- French tv show
believed trialling new game show
paid to deliver next voltage when told by the presenter
actor was ‘learner’ in front of studio audience
80% went to 460v on an ‘unconscious’ man

replication adds validity as supports Milgrams findings that people will obey even when harming others
also other culture

Question 6

limitation milgram (ethics)

Answer 6

no protection from harm
deception- rigged assignment of role
no informed consent
right to withdraw- please continue

one participant states how he found he could kill someone, has to live with this forever
extreme psychological distress

Question 7

strength Milgram (support)

Answer 7

Hoffling- nurses
recieved instructions on phone from Dr Smith to increase dosage by 2x the maximum to the patient. The box clearly labelled the dosage.

95% gave the lethal dosage (actually placebo)
with no resistance or regard for hospital rules

can be applied to other situations not just electrics- generalisability, high ecological validity

Question 8

Limitation Milgram (dc)

Answer 8

Orne and Holland- argued that participants behaved the way they did because they didn’t really believe the set up – guessed it wasn’t real electric shocks.

Perry- listened to tapes of Milgram’s participants and reported that many of them expressed doubts about the shocks.

Therefore the research may lack internal validity –Milgram was not measuring what he intended to!

However… the participants did show signs of distress, so this suggests many did believe the shocks were real!