obedience - milgram's research evaluation Flashcards
(4 cards)
(p) one strength is that there is support for the high levels of obedience found in milgram’s study
(e)
● in a french tv documentary / game show
● contestants were paid to give fake electric shocks, when ordered by the presenter, to other participants (who were actors)
● 80% gave the maximum 460 volts to an apparently unconscious man
● many showed extreme signs of anxiety during the show
(c)
● this supports milgram’s original findings about how ordinary people can go against their conscience
● and follow the unjust orders of an authority figure
(p) one limitation is that milgram’s participants may have been responding to demand characteristics
(e)
● many researchers have argued that participants guessed the electric shocks were fake, so were ‘play-acting’ in the study
● this is supported by perry
● who analysed milgram’s archive of tape recordings and found that participants often voiced their suspicions about the shocks
● perry concluded that only half of the participants believed the shocks were real
(c)
● therefore, the study may lack internal validity
● so does not actually measure the true obedience to authority
● the high obedience found could be because the participants did not think the shocks were real
(counter)
● however, sheridan and king asked participants to give real shocks to a puppy
● 54% of males and 100% of females delivered the maximum voltage
● this suggests the obedience in milgram’s study might be genuine
(p) also, there are many ethical issues in milgram’s study
(e)
● for example, one ethical guideline broken is that participants in milgram’s study were decieved
● they believed they were taking part in a study investigating memory
● when, in reality, it was actually investigating obedience
● another ethical guideline broken is that participants were not protected from psychological harm
● they actually believed they were administering potentially deadly shocks to the learners
● this caused extreme tension, resulting in three participants even having ‘full-blown uncontrollable seizures’
(c)
● this is a problem because unethical studies may give social influence / obedience research a bad reputation
● decreasing funding for research
● and putting participants off from taking part in future studies investigating obedience
(counter)
● however, milgram may have needed to deceive his participants
● in order to stop them from showing demand characteristics (resulting in them not obeying naturally)
(p) finally, milgram’s research lacks population validity
(e)
● this is because milgram only tested male participants within his experiment
● yet, applied his results to both males and females
● sheridan and king conducted a similar study compared to milgram’s
● and found that females were more likely to obey than males
(c)
● this is a limitation as it makes his study gender biased, since we can not confidently generalise the results to female obedience
● the levels of obedience may of been higher if females were included
