Milgram obedience study

?
  • Created by: Teganwi
  • Created on: 13-05-21 17:11
Aim of Milgram's study
To investigate to what level voltage people would give electric shocks when told to by an authority figure; based upon the Nazi regime
1 of 12
Research Method/s
Controlled observation
2 of 12
Design
Dependent variable: maximum shock administered until refused
Independent variable: none, not an experiment but a controlled observation. Later, Milgram conducted variations of experiments including independent variables such as proximity of authority figu
3 of 12
Sample
40 males aged 20-50
From New Haven and surrounding areas in USA
Self selected sample obtained by advert in newspaper for 'memory and learning' study at Yale University
Varied occupations from teacher to labourer
Paid $4.50 on arrival
4 of 12
Procedure
Participant and confederate drew slip to decide role of teacher or learner. Rigged so that the participant was always the teacher.
Learner strapped in chair with electrode on wrist which was attached to shock generator in next room. Told can be extremely
5 of 12
Findings
Quantative
All participants went up to 300V
300V- 5/12.5% refused to continue
26/40 (65%) continued to 450V
14 psychology students estimated that 0-3% would administer full shock
Questionnaire data mean score of 13.42 out of 14 on how painful they thought
6 of 12
Conclusion
People obey an authority figure even if involves causing someone else harm
Obeyed far more than predicted by 14 students
Features that explain why levels of obedience so high: Location, volunteering of learner and teacher, paid, fair chance, told not dang
7 of 12
Evaluation: ethics
Unethical: participants were deceived about true purpose of research(informed consent) and that the confederates were not part of the research. Also, deceived into thinking they were giving actual electric shock and that they were hurting the learner. Thi
8 of 12
Evaluation: self selected
Participants had volunteered to take part in this research, therefore they may have felt more obliged to continue with the study even if they wanted to stop. They also may have had a certain personality type as not everyone wants to volunteer. This restri
9 of 12
Evaluation: Androcentric
This research only used male participants in his study, therefore we cannot generalise to females as they may have acted differently.
10 of 12
Evaluation: Usefulness
The study was motivated by the behaviour pf Nazis in the second world war and whether it was due to personality or the situation they were in. The findings are useful as they suggested that everyone could obey an evil authority figure.
11 of 12
Evaluation: Internal validity
Although Milgram asked participants whether they believed the electric shocks were real- 75% believed so, here is a possibility they may not have and went along with the study because they thought they were supposed to. It also may have not made sense tha
12 of 12

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Research Method/s

Back

Controlled observation

Card 3

Front

Design

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

Sample

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

Procedure

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar Psychology resources:

cs
See all Psychology resources »See all Core studies resources »