Milgram (1963) Study on ObedienceMilgram (1963) Study on ObedienceAICE AS Level PsychologyAICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 1Lecture 1

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I. BACKGROUND• A. The GADH (Germans Are Different

Hypothesis)- A popular explanation of why the Holocaust could only have happened in Germany. • 1. Hitler could not have put his plans into

place without the cooperation of thousands of others.

• 2. Therefore Germans must have a basic character defect (a readiness to follow orders) that allowed Hitler to be successful

I. BACKGROUND

• B. Hannah Arendt’s Report: • 1. She wrote Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report

on the Banality of Evil

• 2. She conducted interviews with Adolph Eichmann during his trial 1961

• 3. She concluded that he was not evil, but had abdicated his will to the bureaucracy

• 4. Milgram interpreted Arendt's work to mean that even the most ordinary of people can commit horrendous crimes if placed in certain situations and given certain incentives

II. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

• A. Obedience or (submissive compliance) is the act of obeying orders from a superior

• B. Compliance is when a person acts on the explicit request of peers

• C. Conformity is when a person acts with the intention of his behavior matching that of the majority

II. SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

• D. The inclination toward obedient behavior has been regarded as a personality trait

• E. A situational attribution is one which explains people’s behavior as being impacted or even controlled by environmental factors

• F. A dispostional attribution is one which explains people’s behavior as coming from within and under their control

III. STUDY BASICS

• A. Aim • 1. To investigate what level of obedience

would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person

• 2. This study was conducted as a PILOT study for one that Milgram intended to carry out in Germany

• 3. He believed that he would have lower levels of obedience in the US than in Germany

III. STUDY BASICS

• B. Sample • 1. 40 white males aged 20 – 50 from New

Haven CT and the surrounding area (Yale University)

• a. Wide range of education levels from one who did not complete elementary school to those with PhD’s

• b. 15 skilled or unskilled laborers, 16 white collar or salesmen and 9 professionals

• c. They answered ads in a newspaper for a Yale study on memory and learning.

• d. They were paid $4.50 for their participation.

Recruiting advertisement for the Milgram Study

IV. PROCEDURE

• A. The setup• 1. Greeted by “Jack Williams” a

stooge or confederate playing the role of a lab tech in a grey lab coat with clipboard.

• a. Really he was a local high school biology teacher

• b. Who was instructed to act rather stern throughout the study

IV. PROCEDURE

• 2. Introduced to Mr. Wallace, the ‘learner’ (also a stooge or confederate), a likeable 47 year old accountant who had arrived first

• 3. Entire set was preplanned, staged and scripted except for responses of the ‘teacher’.

• 4. The study was explained to the subject as an experimentation on the role of punishment in learning

IV. PROCEDURE• B. “Learning”

• 1. Confederate’s task was to memorize pairs of words.

• 2. When tested, the "learner/confederate" would indicate his answer using a system of lights.

• 3. The "teacher/subject’s" role was to administer a shock every time the learner made a mistake.

• 4. Each mistake would earn a progressively more powerful shock.

CUE QUESTIONS• Cue 1: Refer to the Oxford Revision guide and

define the term pilot study and explain why an experimenter might conduct one.

• Cue 2: What type of sample did Milgram use?

• Cue 3: What are 1 Strength and 1 weakness of this type of sampling.

• Cue 4: Write down 3 facts about the sample that you will memorize( ie numbers and characteristics.)

• Cue 5: What are 2 advantages of running an UNETHICAL experiment?

SOURCES• http://tocka.com.mk/8/106324/poznati-psiholoski-eskperimenti-koi-ne-bi-smeele-da-se-slucat-

denes

• http://www.tantor.com/BookDetail.asp?Product=B0165_Eichmann

• http://boingboing.net/2010/07/12/eerie-relic-of-scien.html

• http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/09/my-summer-with-stanley-milgram/

Milgram (1963) Study on ObedienceMilgram (1963) Study on ObedienceAICE AS Level PsychologyAICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 2Lecture 2

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IV. PROCEDURE• C. Administering the shock

• 1. The participant watched the confederate being strapped into a chair in an adjoining room with electrodes attached to his arms

IV PROCEDURE

• 2. The subject sat in front of the shock generator had 30 levers, each of which indicated the level of shock to be given.

IV PROCEDURE3. Levers labeled from “Slight Shock” to

“Danger: Severe Shock” XXX4. The “teachers” were given a shock of

45 volts to convince them that the shocks were real

5. For every mistake made, a shock given and shocks proceeded in intensity.

6. Teacher was to announce the shock level each time.

THE SET UP LOOKED SOMETHING LIKE THIS

E = ExperimenterT = TeacherL = Learner

Notice the learner is in a different room from the teacher

IV. PROCEDURE• 7. The “learner’s” response to the

questions was scripted and played back on a tape recorder

IV. PROCEDURE

• E. “Learner Feedback”• 1. Prior to 300 volts the “learner” made

statements indicating he was experiencing discomfort and even reported a heart problem.

• 2. Then at 300 volts the learner pounded on the wall of the other room which could be heard by the subject

• 3. From this point on, the learner no longer answered

• 4. The learner's pounding was repeated at 315 volts

• 5. After this point, the learner made no more sounds or protests

IV. PROCEDURE

• F. Instructions to the “teacher” or subject.• 1. If the subject objected to continuing

• 2. Then the Experimenter prompts:• a. Please continue (or “Please go on”)

• b. The experiment requires that you continue

• c. It is absolutely essential that you continue

• d. You have no other choice, you must go on

IV. PROCEDURE• 3. If the P refused four times in a row to

continue, he would be done with the experiment. However, if he refused and then continued shocking, it would reset.

• 4. The experiment continued either until the subject refused to continue or until 450 volts were reached and given four times

• 5. The participant was then debriefed and taken to meet the confederate

V. RESULTS/FINDINGS • A. Quantitative Results

• 1. All participants went to at least 300 volts on the shock generator

• 65 % of participants went to the end and believed they had administered the full 450 volts

• B. Qualitative Results• 1. the amount of stress and tension clearly

observed in the participants.

V. RESULTS/FINDINGS• 2. Most participants found the procedure

very stressful & wanted to stop. • 3. Signs of anxiety included sweating,

trembling, stuttering, biting their lips, groaning, digging their fingernails into their flesh, and having of nervous laughing fit.

• 4. 3 subjects had seizures

V. RESULTS/FINDINGS• 5. Remarks from two subjects:

• a. “Is he banging? Is he hurt out there? Well, I don’t want to be responsible for anything that happens to him. No, I can’t go on with it. I don’t know whether he’s all right or not. I mean he may have a heart condition or something. I wouldn’t feel right doing it….I don’t see any sense to this…I just can’t see it”

• b. “You want me to keep going? You hear him hollering? What if something happens to him? I refuse to take responsibility….”

CUES• Cue 6: From the Oxford review book discuss the

difference between experimental realism and mundane realism?

• Cue 7: What steps did the experimenters take to ensure this study had as much experimental realism as possible?

• Cue 8: How do we know they were successful?

• Cue 9: Did the P’s have the right to withdrawal?

• Cue 10: Write down 2 examples of Quantitative data that you will remember for this study

• Cue 11: Write down 2 examples of qualitative data that you will remember for this study

• Cue 12: What is 1 strength and 1 weakness of using qualitative data

SOURCES• http://2sociocultural.blogspot.com/2012/09/justification-of-zimbardos-and-milgrams.html

• http://www.holah.karoo.net/milgramstudy.htm

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment

• http://flashbak.com/stanley-milgrams-obedience-study-could-science-explain-the-holocaust-9546/

• https://thesituationist.wordpress.com/tag/phil-zimbardo/

• http://www.faqt.nl/recent/vu-herhaalt-gruwelijk-experiment/

Milgram (1963) Study on ObedienceMilgram (1963) Study on ObedienceAICE AS Level PsychologyAICE AS Level PsychologyLecture 3Lecture 3

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VI. CONCLUSIONS

• A. Under certain circumstances, most people will obey orders that go against their conscience

• B. When people occupy a subordinate position in a dominance hierarchy, they become liable to lose feelings of empathy, compassion and morality, and are inclined towards blind obedience

• C. Atrocities (WWII) may be largely explained in terms of pressures to obey a powerful authority

VII. FACTORS IMPACTING OBEDIENCE

• A. The fact that the experiment took place at the prestigious Yale University lent the study and procedure credibility and respect. • 1. In one follow up study Milgram moved the

study to an abandoned office bldg and the rate dropped to 47%

• B. The participant believed that the experiment was for a worthy purpose - to advance knowledge and understanding of learning processes.

VII. FACTORS EFFECTING OBEDIENCE

• C. The participant believed the confederate had volunteered to be in the study and therefore had an obligation to take part even if the procedures become unpleasant

• D. The participant felt himself to be similarly obligated to take part in the procedures as planned

• E. Being paid increased the sense of obligation.

• F. Believed the roles of learner and teacher had been assigned fairly

VII. FACTORS EFFECTING OBEDIENCE

• G. Had never been a participant in an experiment before:• 1. Did not know the rights • 2. Had no norms

• H. They were told that the shocks were ‘painful but not dangerous’

• I. (ends justifying means) This short-term pain was balanced with the possibility of long-term scientific gain.

• I. Learner responded to all of the questions until the 300 volts indicating a willingness to take part in the study.

VIII. EVALUATIONS WEAKNESSES• A. Ethics

• 1. Deception• a. Milgram deceived the participants about the

nature and reality of the shocks

• b. Was there any other way to get valid results?

• 2. Harm - They could have suffered long term shock as a result of their realization of their willingness to shock someone else.

VIII. EVALUATIONS WEAKNESSES• 3. Right to Withdrawal

• a. Milgram told the participants that they could quit at the beginning of the experiment and the money was still theirs

• b. However, the prods he used made this unethical because it was implied that the person could not quit

• c. Was there any other way to see how far the participants would go?

VIII. EVALUATIONS WEAKNESSES

• 4. Sampling• a. Only American men (white)

• b. Only people who saw and responded to the advertisment.

• c. However, several studies have replicated the results across cultures.

• 5. Ecological validity• a. Defined

• i. Ecological validity is the degree to which the behaviors observed and recorded in a study reflect the behaviors that actually occur in natural settings.

VIII. EVALUATION OF WEAKNESSES• ii. In addition, ecological validity is associated with

"generalizability". Essentially this is the extent to which findings (from a study) can be generalized (or extended) to the "real world".

• iii. In virtually all studies there is a trade-off between experimental control and ecological validity.

• b. Milgram study

• Carried out in an artificial environment

• However other studies that were less artificial found similar results

• One involved nurses and lethal injections and the other involved actual electric shocks to puppies.

IX. EVALUATIONS STRENGTHS• A. Controls

• 1. Participants believed that roles were assigned randomly.

• 2. Believed they were actually administering shock

• 3. Same apparatus and set-up• 4. Same commands and prods from

experimenter.

• B. Another strength was that he collected both quantitative and qualitative data.

X. INTERESTING ASIDES• The “learner”, Mr. McDonough, died of a heart

attack three years after the studies ended. His neighbor, who unsuccessfully tried to revive him using mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, had been a “teacher” in the Milgram studies and had administered “shocks” to Mr. McDonough just a few years earlier.

X. INTERESTING ASIDES• One of the “teachers” (who had gone all the way to

450 volts) was invited into a social psychology class to speak about his experience in the study. The students (who had already learned about the study) were nearly silent and stared at him with accusing and disbelieving eyes. He reminded the class that you never know what you might have done in that situation.• “Beyond the Shock Machine” - Gina Perry

CUES

• Cue 13: List 3 reasons for the high level of obedience among the participants

• Cue 14: List 3 weakness of the methodology used in this study.

• Cue 15: List 2 strengths of the methodology used in this study.