Milgram's Baseline Procedure & Situational Variables

Question 1

Describe Milgram’s Baseline Procedure

Answer 1

• 40 American male volunteer participants were each introduced to another confederate participant
• They drew rigged lots to determine who would be the ‘Learner’ and who would be the ‘Teacher’, with the genuine participant always being the ‘Teacher’ and the confederate the ‘Learner’
• The confederate ‘Learner’ had to learn a set of word pairs and the genuine ‘Teacher’ had to assess their knowledge
• They were placed in adjacent rooms so they couldn’t see each other
• The ‘Teacher’ had to administer fake electrical shocks of increasingly high voltage to the ‘Learner’ every time they answered incorrectly. However, the ‘Teacher’ was under the impression that the shocks were genuine

Question 2

How many volts did Milgram’s Baseline Procedure go up to?

Answer 2

450V

Question 3

What percentage of participants in Milgram’s Baseline Procedure continued up to the highest voltage?

Answer 3

65%

Question 4

Which voltage did all participants in Milgram’s Baseline Procedure continue up to?

Answer 4

300V

Question 5

What kinds of signs of physical distress did many participants in Milgram’s Baseline Variation exhibit?

Answer 5

Sweating, trembling, stuttering

Question 6

How many participants in Milgram’s Baseline Procedure reportedly had seizures induced by stress?

Answer 6

3

Question 7

Which two replications of Milgram’s Baseline Procedure have found consistent similar findings?

Answer 7

• BBC replication
• French documentary replication

Question 8

What number of participants in the BBC’s replication of Milgram’s Baseline Procedure were fully obedient?

Answer 8

9/12

Question 9

What hypothesis did Milgram’s Baseline Procedure disprove?

Answer 9

The ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis in regards to the behaviour of the Nazis in WW2

Question 10

What did Milgram’s Baseline Procedure investigate?

Answer 10

Obedience

Question 11

What percentage of participants in the French Documentary Replication of Milgram’s Baseline Procedure were fully obedient?

Answer 11

80%

Question 12

What ethical issues are there with Milgram’s Baseline Procedure?

Answer 12

• Deception: the participants not only were told the shocks they were administering were genuine, but were also told the study was on memory, and thought the drawn lots were randomised when they were in fact rigged
• Protection From Harm: many participants exhibited signs of being physically distressed
• Right to Withdraw: Milgram’s use of prods complicated participants’ right to withdraw from the experiment during it

Question 13

Why is the sample for Milgram’s Baseline Procedure not generalisable?

Answer 13

It consisted of all American male volunteers

Question 14

What evidence is there that the participants in Milgram’s Baseline Procedure didn’t actually believe the shocks they were administering were genuine?

Answer 14

Perry (2013), who after listening to tapes of Milgram’s participants reported that only around 50% believed the shocks were genuine

Question 15

Which study in which participants had to administer genuine shocks to a puppy supports Milgram’s findings?

Answer 15

Sheridan & King (1972): despite the real distress of the animal, 54% of male participants and 100% of female participants administered shocks up to 450V

Question 16

Which 3 Situational Variables affecting obedience did Milgram investigate?

Answer 16

• Proximity
• Location
• Uniform

Question 17

How did Milgram investigate Proximity as a Situational Variable? (3 Examples)

Answer 17

• The ‘Teacher’ and ‘Learner’ were placed in the same room
• The ‘Teacher’ had to force the Learner’s hand onto a shock plate
• The ‘Experimenter’ delivered orders over the phone

Question 18

How did Milgram investigate Location as a Situational Variable?

Answer 18

The study was conducted in a rundown office, rather than at the prestigious Yale University

Question 19

How did Milgram investigate Uniform as a Situational Variable?

Answer 19

A confederate ‘Member of the Public’ dressed in everyday clothes rather than a lab coat stood in for the ‘Experimenter’

Question 20

In which Proximity Variation of Milgram’s Baseline Procedure was obedience levels the lowest, and what was the percentage?

Answer 20

When the ‘Experimenter’ delivered orders over the phone, at 21%

Question 21

What was the percentage of obedience in Milgram’s Location Variation of his Baseline Procedure?

Answer 21

47.5%

Question 22

What was the percentage of obedience in Milgram’s Uniform Variation of his Baseline Procedure?

Answer 22

20%

Question 23

Which Situational Variable that Milgram investigated produced the lowest levels of obedience?

Answer 23

Uniform, at 20%

Question 24

What study supports Milgram’s Study investigating the affect of Uniform on obedience?

Answer 24

Bickman’s New York Litter Picking Experiment, in which a confederate wearing a security guard uniform was 2x more likely to be obeyed than the other two confederates wearing less conventional uniforms

Question 25

Why may Milgram's Variations investigating Situational Variables be more prone to demand characteristics?

Answer 25

Due to the **added manipulations of variables** (e.g. when the 'Experimenter' was called away and replaced by a 'Member of the public'), casting doubt on the ** internal validity** of his studies

Question 26

How may Milgram's findings regarding Situational Variables offer an **alibi for evil behaviour**?

Answer 26

It could be argued individuals are merely victims of situational variables

Question 27

In which Proximity Variation of Milgram's Baseline Procedure was obedience levels the **highest**, and what was the percentage?

Answer 27

- When the 'Teacher' and 'Learner' were placed in the **same room**, at **40%**

Question 28

In the **Proximity Variation** of **Milgram's Baseline Procedure** in which the 'Teacher' had to force the hand of the 'Learner' onto a shock plate, what was the percentage of obedience levels?

Answer 28

**30%**