Milgram's Prison Study

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  • Milgram's obedience study 1963
    • procedure
      • 40 males P - believed it was a memory study
        • 20 - 50 yrs, unskilled to professional jobs
        • offered $4.50
        • told they can leave study anytime
        • P always became the teacher
      • confederate - "Mr Wallace" was the learner
      • 2nd confederate -  the experimenter dressed in lab coat
        • he told teacher - no response = wrong answer
        • if teacher felt unsure about continuing
          • prod 1: "Please continue"
          • Prod 2: "The experiment requires that you continue"
          • Prod 3: "It is absolutely essential that you continue"
          • Prod 4: "You have no choice, you must go on"
      • Learner strapped to a chain with electrodes in another room (he was promoted wrong answers)
        • teacher gave increasing shock each time the learner made a mistake (not real shocks)
      • volt machine - "slight shock" (15V) to "severe shock" (450V)
        • at 300V - learner pounded on wall with no response to next question
          • 315V - another pound with no more responses from learner
    • Findings
      • no participants stopped below 300V
        • only 5 /40 stopped after 300V
        • 65% went all the way up
      • Ps showed extreme tension
        • 3 had seizures
      • before study it was estimated that no more than 3% would get to 450V
      • all Ps were debriefed - told it was behaviour normal
    • Evaluation
      • Low internal validity
        • Behaved that way coz Ps didnt believe in set up
          • tapes show many Ps expressed their doubts
          • HOWEVER,similar study with puppy and real shocks
            • 54% males and 100% females gave what they thought a fatal shock
          • 70% of Milgram's Ps thought shocks were real
      • Good external validity
        • Lab reflected authority in real life
          • Hofling et al  - nurses obedience to unjustifiable demands of doctors were high - 21/22 nurses obeyed
        • can be generalised to other situations
      • supporting replicated studies
      • ethical issues
        • Ps thought allocation was random but  it was fixed

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