Milgram Experiment

Participants

- 40 males aged between 20-50 years - Their jobs ranged from unskilled to professional - Paid $4.50 for just turning up

Results

- 65%, two thirds of participants, continued to 450 volts - All participants continued to 300 volts - 18 variations to the study were carried out.

Procedure

- At the beginning of the experiment they were introduced to another participant who was actually Milgram's confederate. - they then drew straws to determine which role they were. A learner or a teacher - Confederate is always a learner - Experimenter is also in the room and is an actor with a white lab coat - The learner was strapped in a chair with electrodes in a seperate room to the teacher - The learner is then given a list of words for them to learn and the teacher is assigned to them - The teacher is told by the experimenter that they have to adminster an electric shock every time the learner gets a word wrong. - There are 30 switches on the shock generator (15 volts, slight shock to 450 volts, severe shock. ) - Every time the learner gets an answer wrong the voltage increases - When the teacher refused to administer a shock they were given a series of four prods to make sure they continued - If the first prod was not obeyed, the next prod was read out

Prods

- Please continue - The experiment requires you to continue - It is absolutely essential that you continue - You have no other choice but to continue

Materials

- Straws to determine who was a learner or a teacher - electric shock administrator - a chair for the learner

DV

Dependant Variable - Obedience

Factors that affected obedience

Factors that affect obedience are that the commands were given by an authority figure.

IV

Independant Variable - Altering the situation

Confederate

Is someone who is apart of the experiment, but pretends to be a participant in the study

Authority

Is the person or source of power that enables the enforcement of rules or gives orders.

Hypothesis

It is hypothesised that the teacher will obey the authroity figure and inflict pain on the learner.

Germans

Milgram wanted to investigate whether Germans were particularly obedient to authority figures as this was a common explanation for the nazi killings in WW2.

Influence and factors

Milgram was influenced and investigated factors involved in determining obedience to an authority figure.

Obedience

Occurs when commands of someone with authority are being followed

Limitations

Only tested on a male sample. If the experiment was tested on women the results may have varied

Generalisations

Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being

Ethical Considerations - Withdrawal Rights

Participants weren't allowed to withdraw and were prodded to make sure they continued. They were essentially discouraged from withdrawing from the experiment.

Ethical Considerations - Deception

The participants believed that they were shocking a real person and were unaware that the learner was infact a confederate of Milgram's.

Results indicate

The results indicate that people will show obedience towards an authority figure due to the power they have over them

Aim

To research how far people would go in obeying an instruction if it involved harming another individual

Stanley Milgram

Was an American social psychologist, lived between 1933-1984

Studied at

Yale University

Is the hypothesis supported

Yes the hypothesis is supported. the authority that the experimenter had on the teacher proved that the teacher obeyed them eeven if it involved the learner getting hurt.

Milgram was influenced by

the historical events of the holocaust

Milgram related this

to the holocaust and investigated whether German's were particularly obedience to authroity figures as their defence was often based on obedience.