milligrams studies into obedience Flashcards
(29 cards)
What is obedience?
a form of social influence in which an individual follows a direct order, even if it goes against their conscience. the person issuing the order is usually a figure of authority and higher up on the social hierarchy e.g teacher, army officer
Who conducted the study into obedience?
Millgram
What was the Aim of milligrams study?
To observe whether people would obey a figure of authority when told to harm another person.
What was the procedure of Milligram’s study?
- There was a general intro by the experimenter about punishment and learning to both the participant and the stooge.
- They would “select” which one was teacher and which one was learner.
- Both were taken into the next room, the learner was strapped down, wire connected to the wrist, and an initial 45v shock was given.
- The teacher read out word pairs and the learner responded by pressing a button so it was displayed on a screen in the teaching room.
- If learner was right, they’d move to the next pair, but if learner got it wrong (was done deliberately) the teacher would shock the learner.
- The learning progressed by 15v increments and this would continue unless teacher needed a ‘prod.’
- Study progressed until either prods were done and teacher refused or they reached the volt max.
- Teacher/participant was given an interview and a debriefing of the true AIM of the study (ethical).
What were the findings of Milligram’s study?
All participants went up to 300 V
65% went up to 450V
No participant went below 300
12.5% stopped at 300 V
participants showed signs of distress:laughter, biting nails, sweating, shaking and stuttering
Wait were the conclusions of Milligram’s study?
People will obey authority figures even at the detriment of other people
What were the ethical issues with milligrams study?
- Competence: Milgram should have stopped the procedure before all 40 participants had completed the experiment.
- Protection from psychological harm: participants were distressed/felt guilty.
- Protection from physical harm: some participants harmed e.g. seizures/biting lips.
What were the findings of Milligram’s situational variations?
What were the outcomes of milligrams locational variation?
What were the outcomes of milligrams uniform variations?
What method was used?
Lab experiment with minor questionnaire, interview, and observation.
What design was used?
There is no specific design.
What was the IV and DV?
IV - there is no IV in this study, but some argue the command to obey is the IV.
DV - called the dependent measure, it’s the maximum shock administered before the refusal to go any further.
How (specifically) was the sample collected?
An advertisement was placed in a newspaper for a study on “learning and memory” and that starting pay would be $4.50 and would be paid regardless of outcome. New Haven, CT (Yale)
Describe the participants.
Participants - 40 males, aged 20-50, wide range of occupations including postal clerks, high school teachers, salesmen, engineers, and laborers; wide range of educational levels including not finished elementary school to doctorate.
What were some advantages of the sample?
- Target population wider and larger than, say, student sample of Yale.
- Potentially wide range of respondents: age, occupation, etc.
- Wording of advert can attract particular features or characteristics.
What were some disadvantages of the sample?
- May not be representative of wider population.
- Targets only those reading that particular newspaper.
- Those replying, volunteers, may possess particular characteristics.
- The sample will not include those who will not reply to a newspaper advertisement.
- May not get enough participants: Milgram also used ‘direct solicitation’.
How was the stooge used to deceive?
- Choice of role (teacher or leaner) was “random” because stooge was always learner.
- Stooge attachment to shock generator was “genuine.”
- Stooge was telling “truth” and had a heart condition.
- Oohs and aahs and screams from stooge were “genuine.”
List the prods in order.
Prod 1: Please continue. or Please go on.
Prod 2: The experimenter requires that you continue.
Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue.
Prod 4: You have no other choice, you must go on.
What was the special prod used if the subject asked if they were liable?
Although the shock is painful, there is no permanent tissue damage, so please go on.
Describe the post experiment interview.
- All the participants were given a post-experiment interview with questionnaire where they were asked on a 14-point, how painful were the shocks to the learner. The mean rating was 13.42 or “extremely painful.”
- The participant was then told of the true nature of the study and were given a friendly reconciliation period with the stooge so the participant would leave with no long-term issues.
What quantitative data was collected?
the break-off points of when the participants or experimenter stopped the study.
What qualitative data was collected?
- Qualitative data - while there isn’t a true recording of qualitative data, Milgram does mention the physical state of many of the participants in completing the shocking task.
- Including: sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groan, dig their fingers into themselves, seizures, and 14 of 40 showed fits of nervous laughter and smiling.
Describe the comparison study and its results.
- Milgram ran a comparison study, “43 subjects, undergraduates at Yale University, were run in the experiment without payment. The results are very similar to those obtained with paid subjects.”
- Meaning: Obedience did not depend on payment.
