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level: Milgram study (S)

Questions and Answers List

level questions: Milgram study (S)

QuestionAnswer
Aim- To find whether people would still be obedient to an authority figure even if it means it would result in harming others
Background- Milgram was from a Jewish family - Interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into committing atrocities, for example, Germans in WWII
How sample was taken- Newspaper and mail advertisement - Experiment on “memory and learning" - At Yale University - Paid $4.50
Sample- 40 males (20-50 years old) - New Heaven - With diverse job occupations
Procedure- Participants put in twos – “teacher” + “learner” - Teacher sees learner strapped into a chair - Learner had to recall a pair of words - If mistake was made teacher had to give an electric shock - If teacher refused to give a shock = experimenter had to give series of orders - Hearing screams - At 375V actor goes silent
Features that explain high levels of obedience obtained- Yale University: credibility and respect - Volunteered - Being paid increased the sense of obligation - Participant thought learner and teacher had been allocated randomly thus fairly - Commitment to science - Graduated commitment - Agentic shift
Electric shocks- 30 horizontal switches - Electric shock from 15-450 Volts – NOT REAL, BUT PARTICIPANT THOUGHT THEY WERE
Graduated commitment- 15 volt intervals psychologically makes it easier to give a higher shock
Sample shock- Each naïve participant was given a sample shock - Convinces the participant of the authenticity of the generator
The series of orders1. Please Continue 2. The experiment requires you to continue 3. It is absolutely essential that you continue 4. You have no other choice but to continue
After experiment- Participant were debriefed - Psychometric tests taken to make sure no emotional harm was done - Participant met Learner – make sure he was not in danger - Told their reaction was normal
Observations behind one-way mirror- Nervous behaviour e.g. sweat - 3 participants had seizures - Some participants got up and left - Some showed reluctance after 300V - Participants who left before 450V = “Oh I can’t go on with this”, “This is Crazy”.
Dependent measures: ‘defiant’ participant.- A participant who stopped before 450V
Dependent measures: 'obedient' participant- A participant who fully complied and gave all shock levels commanded
Dependent variable- Levels of obedience shown
Predicted results- 14 Yale students were asked to predict the results - Predicted only 1% would go through to the end
Results- 65% of participants continued to the highest level of 450 V = Obedient participant - All participants gave a minimum of 300 Volts = Defiant participant - 5 participants went no further
Conclusions- Produced strong tendencies to obey - Created lots of tension and emotional strain
Evalutation- People still be obedient to an authority figure even if it means harming others - Obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up
Strengths- Highly controlled: control over extraneous variables, lab experiment - High level of experimental realism: men believed it was real - Replicable: standardised
Weaknesses- Not representative: androcentric, all from New Heaven - Lack of ecological validity: artificial setting - Demand characteristics: Participants may have done it to be socially desirable or “normal” – answering a social cue
Control variables- Same shock generator used each time - Same people played the roles of ‘experimenter’ and ‘learner’ - The answers from the ‘learner’ was the same each time
Data- Quantative + qualitive data
Quantative dataNumbers: - How far along the shock generator they got
Qualitive dataObserved behaviour that was filmed: - 3 participants had seizures - Pulling own hair - Laughing nervously
Ethical guidelines not upheld- DECEPTION - unaware the learner was a confederate - RIGHT TO WITHDRAW - weren't allowed to leave when asked - HARM - exposed to extremely stressful situations, causes psychological harm
Ethical guidelines upheld- Informed consent - Participants debriefed - Participants were also seen a year later as a check up
Validity- High face validity: measured what he wanted to measure obedience - However, it can be argued that obedience is too simplistic and behaviour was also effected by other variables like empathy - Lacked ecological validity, unrealistic situation
Ethnocentric- Only carried out in one country, cannot assume that the same levels of obedience will be shown in other countries
Not ethnocentric- Deliberately ethnocentric, to prove hypothesis 'Germans are different' - Replications of Milgram's study were carried out in many countries and found similar findings
Reliability- Replicable: standardised - The way in which results were recorded would have lead to someone overseeing the procedure and recording the outcome
Disposition meaning- Distinguishing an individual from others
Milgram’s Agency Theory: Autonomous state- People directing their own actions and they take responsibility for the results
Milgram’s Agency Theory: Agentic state- People allowing others to direct their actions and pass of the responsibility for their results
Milgram’s Agentic shift theory: Two things must happen- The person giving orders is perceived as being qualified to direct other people’s behaviour - The person being ordered is able to believe that the authority will accept responsibility
The ‘obedience alibi’- Limitation of the agentic state: evidence shows behaviour of the Nazis cannot be explained in terms of authority and an agentic shift
Mandel's views- Milgram’s research focuses too much on situation and not enough on disposition - Milgram’s research provides these evildoers with an ‘obedience alibi’ which they do not deserve - Argues that these Nazis were not given a direct order to massacre Jews
Mandel's evidence against situation and agentic state (shift)- Jews killed in Poland by Police Battalion 101 during the war - volunteers - Could opt out - but very few did - The authority figure (Officer) was not even there to supervise the killing
Mandel view on disposition side of debate- Volunteers showed willingness to take part, not following orders - It was their disposition (personality) not the pressure of situation forcing them to be obedient
Freewill vs determinism: FREEWILL- 35% stopped before 450V
Freewill vs determinism: DETERMINISM- 65% of participants continued to 450V their behaviour was determined by the situation
Usefulness- Positive authority in schools + businesses - However can be abused for malicious purposes
Link to key area- Social area, reveals the extent to which behaviour can be influenced by other people
Link to theme- Responses to people in authority - People still be obedient to an authority figure even if it means harming others