What was the method of the study?
Controlled observation
What was the aim of the study?
• to investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person
Describe the sample of the study
- 40 males
- all from New Haven, Connecticut
- obtained from adverts
- 20-50yrs old
- variety of occupations & educational achievement
Was the draw between ‘Mr Wallace’ and the participant fixed?
Yes
Where was the experiment conducted?
Yale University
What happened when the learner & teacher were taken by the experimenter into the room with the shock chair?
- the teacher was given a shock of 40v
- the teacher watched as the learner was strapped in
- learner told by experimenter that shocks are painful but cause no tissue damage
- learner explained heart condition
What happened when the teacher was taken to the adjacent room?
- teacher put in front of control panel & told to test learner on task
- incorrect / no answer = shock
- voltage increased by 15v each time
- if teacher hesitated he was given a verbal prod
How was the experiment finished, and what happened after?
- experiment was considered to have finished when the participant refused to go on / 3 x 450v shocks were given
- participants were then interviewed & met learner
- Mr Wallace not actually being shocked
What were the results of the study?
- 14/40 quit - 26 went all the way
* 64% gave max shock - all p’s administered 15-285v
What were the observations of the study?
- participants showed nervous behaviour
- one participant had a seizure
- 14 participants got up and left
- participants who got up and left before 450v commented
What are the possible explanations for the obedience shown?
- Yale is a prestigious university
- learner had volunteered
- teacher had made a commitment
- both had an equal chance of being the learner
- experimenters right to ask participants to do something was seen as valid
- told shocks were valid
- by answering, learner was seen to be ‘playing the game’
Give advantages of the experiment being a controlled observation
- not much change
- first hand data
- controlled environment
- allows you to present participants with specific scenario is which are linked to aim & observe effects of experimenters demands clearly
Give disadvantages of the experiment being a controlled observation
- no IV analysis
- decreases ecological validity / artificial situation
- observer bias
What are the issues with the sample in the study?
- not representative of all people - can’t generalise findings
- all from 1 area, deliberately ethnocentric
- volunteers - more confident
Was the validity low or high?
High - seizures and sounds etc made study believable, the verbal prods and feedback were the same with each participant
What are possible extraneous variable of the study?
- if the experimenter sounded stricter with some teachers that others
- if some participants had more sleep than others
How is the study useful / how can it be applied?
- helps us to understand human behaviour - why people in Germany took orders from authority figures
- triggered further research
- apply knowledge to real life - to train soldiers & so they know what is and isn’t moral
