Milgram

Question 1

When and where did Milgram’s experiment occur?

Answer 1

1963 - Yale Univeristy

Question 2

What was the aim of Milgram?

Answer 2

To test levels of obedience and see if everybody would comply to an authoritative figure or whether it was just the German race is Nazi Germany

Question 3

What was the procedure to Milgram?

Answer 3

• 40 males between 20 and 50 were recruited for a memory test via a local advert (paid $4.50 for an hour)
• Were “randomly” assigned the role of the teacher (it was fixed) whilst a confederate was assigned the role of the learner
• The learner was strapped to an electric chair (teacher given 45V test shock to prove it was working)
• Teacher taught the learner word pairs and when the learner got the pairs wrong (on purpose), they would be “shocked” with rising voltages by the teacher
• Experimenter prompted the teacher to continue shocking the learner

Question 4

What were the results of the experiment?

Answer 4

• 65% of participants continued to 450V

- 100% of participants continued to 300V

Question 5

Is the study generalisable?

Answer 5

Used 40 participants - large for an opportunity sample

Andorcentric and ethnocentric (may have have demand characteristics too)

Question 6

Is the study reliable?

Answer 6

• Standardised procedure (Burger replicated it

- Some were video recorded (intra-rater reliability)

Question 7

Is the study applicable?

Answer 7

Can explain the Holocaust and real life obediencce

Question 8

Is the study valid?

Answer 8

High in internal validity

Low in ecological validity
Low in mundane realism

Question 9

Is the study ethical

Answer 9

Participants were debriefed at the end
Were kept confidential

Deceived
Not protected from harm
Didn’t give informed consent

Question 10

What was the conclusion of the experiment?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What were the four prods given to the participants?

Answer 11

• “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 12

What was Milgram’s sample?

Answer 12

40 white American men aged between 20-50 gathered in an opportunity sample

Question 13

Give 3 reasons why the participants may have obeyed

Answer 13

Study seemed to have a worthy cause

Participant was paid so may have felt obligated

Were told the shocks were painful but not dangerous

Question 14

Why can Milgram’s deception be justified?

Answer 14

Because if the participants were aware of the true nature of the study the results wouldn’t have been valid