Milgram (1963)

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  • Milgram (1963)
    • Participants
      • 40 males
      • aged  between 20 and 50
      • from New Haven area New York, USA
      • obtained through newspaper advertisement
        • volunteer sample
      • told the study was to test memory and learning
      • paid $4.50 for taking part
        • the money was theirs to keep no matter what happened inside the lab
    • Method
      • laboratory experiment
        • + high control
        • - low ecological validty
    • Design
      • independent measures
        • + no order effects
        • - participant variables
    • Procedure
      • 4) the shock machine had 30 switches with the lowest voltage at 15V and the highest 450V. Each time the confederate answered wrong the ppt would move up an increment
      • 3) the ppt had to ask the confederate a series of questions and everytime he got one wrong, the ppt had to administer a shock
      • 2) taken into separate rooms where the apparatus was set up however the ppt saw the confederate be strapped into the supposedly live shocking equipment
      • 1) participant and confederate told to choose role as either teacher or learner - the ppt was always the teacher
      • 5) there was another researcher in the room with the ppt. their job was to give anumber of verbal prods that were standardised if the ppt expressed concern
        • prod 1: 'please continue' or 'please go on'
        • prod 2: 'the experiment requires that you continue'
        • prod 3: 'it is absolutely essential that you continue'
        • prod 4: 'you have no other choice, you must go on'
      • 6) if the confederate didn't answer within 10 seconds, its was treated as incorrect and a shock was given.
    • Results
      • 100% of participants carried on to a 300volt shock
        • 5 of the 40 stopped here
      • 26 of 40 participants went to 450volts - the highest voltage
      • participants showed signs of extreme tension through: sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting their lips and groaning.
        • 14 showed stress through nervous laughter and smiling
        • 3 participants had full blown seizures
    • Evaluation
      • Research Method
        • although it had a dependant variable (either obedient or not) and controls (standardised procedure) it didn't have an independent variable
      • Data
        • used quantitative data - percent of ppts who obeyed
      • Ethics
        • incredibly unethical - no debrief, high deception, no informed consent, no protection from harm, no withdrawl
      • Validity
        • low ecological validity
      • Reliability
        • highly replicable due to standardised procedure
      • Sample
        • all males, all from New Haven, NY, USA, all from lower or lower middle class
  • Procedure
    • 4) the shock machine had 30 switches with the lowest voltage at 15V and the highest 450V. Each time the confederate answered wrong the ppt would move up an increment
    • 3) the ppt had to ask the confederate a series of questions and everytime he got one wrong, the ppt had to administer a shock
    • 2) taken into separate rooms where the apparatus was set up however the ppt saw the confederate be strapped into the supposedly live shocking equipment
    • 1) participant and confederate told to choose role as either teacher or learner - the ppt was always the teacher
    • 5) there was another researcher in the room with the ppt. their job was to give anumber of verbal prods that were standardised if the ppt expressed concern
      • prod 1: 'please continue' or 'please go on'
      • prod 2: 'the experiment requires that you continue'
      • prod 3: 'it is absolutely essential that you continue'
      • prod 4: 'you have no other choice, you must go on'
    • 6) if the confederate didn't answer within 10 seconds, its was treated as incorrect and a shock was given.

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