obedience - milgram's research

Question 1

what is obedience? (2)

Answer 1

● changing our behaviour in response from a direct order from a perceived authority figure

● who often has the ‘power to punish’ us if we don’t obey

Question 2

what hypothesis was milgram testing?

Answer 2

the ‘germans are different’ hypothesis

Question 4

describe the sample of milgram’s study

Answer 4

● 40 american male participants

● who believed they were volunteering for a study investigating memory

Question 5

what was the procedure of milgram’s study? (6)

Answer 5

● participants drew lots for their role, however this was rigged

● the real participant was always the ‘teacher’ and a confederate was always the ‘learner’

● learner had to remember word pairs

● every time learner got an answer wrong, the teacher (real participant) had to give an increasingly severe electric shock (ranging from 15V - 450V)

● these shocks were actually fake

● if a teacher wished to stop, experimenter (another confederate) gave a set of four standardised prods to encourage them to carry on

Question 6

what were the quantitative findings of milgram’s study? (2)

Answer 6

● all continued to 300V

● 65% continued to 450V (they obeyed)

Question 7

what were the qualitative findings of milgram’s study? (2)

Answer 7

● participants showed signs of extreme tension e.g. nervous laughter, biting nails

● three had ‘full-blown uncontrollable seizures’

Question 8

what was the conclusion of milgram’s study? (2)

Answer 8

● under certain circumstances, most people will obey orders of an authority, even those that go against their conscience

● we can therefore suggest that atrocities such as those carried out in WW2, may be largely explained in terms of pressures to obey a powerful authority figure