social area Flashcards
(11 cards)
what is the research method of milgrams study?
Milgram refers to this study as a laboratory experiment. However, it is generally considered a controlled observation as there was no independent variable.
what is the sample of milgrams study?
Self-selecting sample (volunteer). Participants were obtained by a newspaper advertisement and direct mailing, which asked for volunteers to participate in a study of memory and learning at Yale University. The sample included 40 male participants aged between 20-50 years, from the New Haven area (USA). Participants were paid $4.50 for turning up for the study. There was a wide range of occupations in the sample (e.g. postal clerks, high-school teachers, salesmen, engineers and labourers).
what is the procedure of milgrams study?
took place in a laboratory at Yale University. The participant was greeted by the experimenter who called himself Jack Williams (the authority figure). He wore a grey lab coat and appeared stern and emotionless throughout the study. The participant was then introduced to another male, Mr Wallace (the learner). This second male was a confederate (someone pretending to be a participant). Mr Wallace was trained for the role and most people found him mild-mannered and likeable.
The experimenter, Jack Williams, explained the study was about memory and learning, and how punishment can affect this. The two men were given the role of either ‘teacher’ or ‘learner’. The participant thought this was done randomly, but it was rigged – the real participant was always given the role of ‘teacher’. The confederate, Mr Wallace, was always given the role of ‘learner’. They were then taken to another room and the teacher saw the learner be strapped to a chair with electrodes attached to his arm. The participant then heard the experimenter tell the learner ‘although the shocks can be extremely painful, they cause no permanent tissue damage’. The learner never actually received any electric shocks – the electrodes were fake!
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The ‘teacher’ was then taken to another room and sat in front of the electric shock generator. He had to conduct a word-pairs memory test with the learner and give him an electric shock, of increasing intensity, for every wrong answer. The machine had 30 switches ranging from 15-450 volts, going up in 15-volt increments. To enhance experimental realism, the participant (teacher) was given a real sample shock of 45 volts. The shock generator also had written labels were also clearly indicated from ‘slight shock’ to ‘danger: severe shock’ and finally ‘XXX’. It has buzzers, flashing lights and moving dials.
The ‘learner’ produced a set of predetermined answers to the word pairs task, via a button connected to light display in the ‘teacher’s’ room. Each incorrect answer received a shock of increasing voltage. No vocal responses or other signs of protest were heard from the learner until the shock level reached 300v. Then the learner pounded on the wall. The answers then stopped. The participant was told to treat an absence of response as an incorrect response and give another shock. The pounding on the wall was repeated after the 315v shock but subsequently the learner was not heard from again.
If the ‘teacher’ turned to the experimenter for advice on whether to proceed, the experimenter responded with a series of standardised prods e.g. “Please continue / Please go on.” “It is absolutely essential that you continue”. The study finished when either the ‘teacher’ refused to continue (was disobedient) or reached 450 volts (was obedient). The participant was then fully debriefed.
Quantitative data was gathered through making a note of what voltage the teacher went to. Qualitative data was also gathered through unstructured observations of the teacher’s behaviour. This was done by researchers behind a one-way mirror.
what were the key findings of milgrams study?
All 40 participants (100%) obeyed up to 300 volts.
* 14 participants (35%) were disobedient and stopped between 300 volts and 375 volts. * 26 participants (65%) were obedient and continued to the full 450 volts.
* Many participants showed signs of extreme stress whilst administering the shocks e.g. sweating, trembling, stuttering, and 14 participants showed signs of nervous laughter (uncontrollable laughing seizures were observed in 3 participants).
* On completion of the test many obedient participants heaved sighs of relief, mopped their brows, or nervously fumbled cigarettes.
* With few exceptions, participants were convinced of the reality of the situation. In the post-experimental interview, participants were asked: ‘How painful were the last few shocks you administered?’ On a 14-point scale ranging from 1 (‘not at all painful’) to 14 (‘extremely painful’), the mean was 13.
* Prior to the study, the 14 Yale psychology students were provided with a detailed description of the experimental situation. They were asked to predict the obedience levels. They estimated that 0%-3% (mean 1.2%) of participants would obey and administer the highest level of shock (450 volts).
what were the conclusions of milgrams study?
People will obey a legitimate authority figures, even if what they are asked to do goes against their moral beliefs, such as hurting another person. This challenges the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis, as the study shows that obedience is not a dispositional tendency (due to personality), but depends upon the situation an individual is put in (Americans obeys, just as German’s did).
what was the aim of bocchiaros study?
To see if there are personality differences between people who obey, disobey and blow the whistle. To see if there is a difference between people’s predictions of their own and others’ obedience, disobedience and whistle blowing, when contrasted with their actual behaviour
what is the research method of bocchairos study?
Bocchiaro considers this study a laboratory experiment. However, there is no independent variable so the study may be best viewed as a laboratory study, or as Bocchiaro say a ‘scenario study’.
how was data collected in bocchairos study?
the scores on the two personality tests/inventories: - HEXACO-60 – this measured the six major dimensions of personality: honesty, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. It uses 60 Likert scale questions. - Decomposed Games – nine questions that measured Social Value Orientation (how much importance a person places on their own welfare or the welfare of others). It categories participants as prosocial, individualistic or competitive.
what was the sample of bocchiaros study?
149 undergraduate students (96 women, 53 men, mean age = 20.8) took part in the research in exchange for either €7 or course credit. Self-selected sample, recruited from flyers posted in the university cafeteria. A total of 11 participants were removed from the initial sample of 160 because of their suspiciousness about the nature of the study.
