Milgram’s study
- Designed a base line procedure that could be used to assess obedience level.
- Investigate the Germans are different hypothesis (they were more obedient, as they
followed the orders of Hitler)
- Awarded prize by APA
Method:
- 40 American men volunteered to take part in a study at Yale selected from a range of
different backgrounds and occupations ranging in age from 20-50.
- Participants arrived at the lab, and they met the confederate and the experimenter,
they were then paid $4.50, they were told they were taking part in a study on how
punishment affected learning at Yale.
- They pulled lots which were rigged, and they were always assigned the role of ‘teacher’.
- The experimenter was authoritative he was tall and dressed in a lab coat.
- The learner was called Mr Wallace he was strapped in a chair in another room wired
to electrodes, the teacher could not see him but could hear him.
- The real participants were told to give the learner an increasingly severe electric shock
each time the learner made a mistake on a learning task.
- Shock level went from 15 volts to 450 volts.
When the participants tried to stop, they were given 4 standardised prompts by the
experimenter:
‘Please continue’ or ‘please go’.
‘The experiment requires that you go on’.
‘it’s absolutely essential that you continue’.
‘You have no other choice; you must go on’.
Findings:
- All the participants gave 300-volt shocks.
- 12.5% stopped at 300 and 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts.
- Only 5 ppts stopped at 300V.
- Participants showed signs of extreme tension swear, tremble, stutter, bite their lips,
groan, and dig their fingernails into their hands. Three had full blown uncontrollable
seizures.
- Prior to the study Milgram asked 14 psych students to predict the ppts behaviour, they
thought no more than 3% would continue to 450V, and 65% did.
- The findings were unexpected.
Conclusions:
- Concluded that German people are not different.
- The American participants in the study were willing to obey orders even when they
might harm another person.
- Designed a base line procedure that could be used to assess obedience level.
- Investigate the Germans are different hypothesis (they were more obedient, as they
followed the orders of Hitler)
- Awarded prize by APA
Method:
- 40 American men volunteered to take part in a study at Yale selected from a range of
different backgrounds and occupations ranging in age from 20-50.
- Participants arrived at the lab, and they met the confederate and the experimenter,
they were then paid $4.50, they were told they were taking part in a study on how
punishment affected learning at Yale.
- They pulled lots which were rigged, and they were always assigned the role of ‘teacher’.
- The experimenter was authoritative he was tall and dressed in a lab coat.
- The learner was called Mr Wallace he was strapped in a chair in another room wired
to electrodes, the teacher could not see him but could hear him.
- The real participants were told to give the learner an increasingly severe electric shock
each time the learner made a mistake on a learning task.
- Shock level went from 15 volts to 450 volts.
When the participants tried to stop, they were given 4 standardised prompts by the
experimenter:
‘Please continue’ or ‘please go’.
‘The experiment requires that you go on’.
‘it’s absolutely essential that you continue’.
‘You have no other choice; you must go on’.
Findings:
- All the participants gave 300-volt shocks.
- 12.5% stopped at 300 and 65% continued to the highest level of 450 volts.
- Only 5 ppts stopped at 300V.
- Participants showed signs of extreme tension swear, tremble, stutter, bite their lips,
groan, and dig their fingernails into their hands. Three had full blown uncontrollable
seizures.
- Prior to the study Milgram asked 14 psych students to predict the ppts behaviour, they
thought no more than 3% would continue to 450V, and 65% did.
- The findings were unexpected.
Conclusions:
- Concluded that German people are not different.
- The American participants in the study were willing to obey orders even when they
might harm another person.
