social area classic studies (milgram)

Question 1

what was the historical background to milgrams study

Answer 1

nazi germany
wanted to test obedience
wanted to discover the point at which participants would refuse to go on

Question 2

what was the AIM of milgrams study

Answer 2

to investigate what level of obedience participants would show when an authority figure told them to administer electric shocks to another person.

Question 3

why is milgrams study controlled

Answer 3

kept multiple variables the same

Question 4

who were the participants who took part

Answer 4

40 males aged 20-50
new haven Connecticut
variety of job backgrounds

Question 5

how were participants recruited

Answer 5

self selecting sample
local advertisment $4.50
said it was an experiment about memory

Question 6

how was the procedure carried out

Answer 6

1)experiment involved one naive participant and the victim
2) experiment told the the purpose of the experiment was to find out the effect of punishment on learning
3) experimenter declared although the shocks can be extremely painful then cause not permanent tissue damage
4) learner was strapped onto an electric shock generator and was told to match up words in a word pair task
5)sample shocks- teacher given and 45v shock too convince the participant of authenticity.
6)teacher was instructed to shock the learner every time they gave the wrong answer
7)when the 300v shock was administered the learner kicked the wall after that he gave no answer
8) 315v kicked the wall again after that no further feedback from the victim
9) standardised prods if participant deemed to be defiant

Question 7

quantitive findings

Answer 7

65% of all participants went up to 450v
all 40 participants went up too 300v
5 refused to continue after 300v
9 more had stopped by 375v

Question 8

qualitative findings

Answer 8

sweating
trembling
stuttering
lip biting
groaning
biting their nails
crying
nervous laugh

Question 9

conclusions milgrams findings

Answer 9

he concluded that this is a situation that produces extremely strong tendencies to obey

Question 10

why the high levels of obedience

Answer 10

experiment took place at Yale
experiment obtained worthy purpose
being paid to come to the lab made the participant feel obliged to continue
assumed shocks were painful not dangerous

Question 11

why the high levels of tension experienced

Answer 11

participant was placed in a position in which he had to respond to completing demands from two people - both people had very different demands

Question 12

equipment required

Answer 12

generator
chair
lab coat
microphone
answer sheet
45v battery

Question 13

what were the prods

Answer 13

please continue
the experiment requires that you continue
it is absolutely essential that you continue
you have no other choice you must go on

Question 14

strengths of the study

Answer 14

lab experiment- controlled
self selecting sample- willing g volunteer
quantitive and qualitative data
decent age range
didnt know the purpose of the study
different jobs - generalisable

Question 15

weaknesses of the study

Answer 15

lack of ecological validity
ethnocentric - just in the USA
self selected keen volunteers more confident
just men - less generalisable