● Complying with the demands of an authoritative figure.
● There is the implication that the person wouldn’t otherwise have responded in this way without the order.
AO1:
Aims:
● Milgram carried out a series of studies to see how obedient people would be in a situation where obeying orders would m
innocent person.
Procedure: Findings: Conclus
● Milgram recruited 40 male participants by ● Every participant gave at least 300 volts. ● Peo
advertising volunteers (self-selected sample) for a eve
study of how punishment affects learning. ● 62.5% of participants (25 out of 40) continued to
give shocks up to the maximum 450 volts. ● This
● There were 2 confederates: an experimenter (the inju
authority figure) and a learner. The participant ● Most participants became highly distressed, figu
took on the role of the teacher and was told to sweating and pacing around the room. Several
administer increasingly strong electric shocks to cried, twitched or giggled nervously or dug their ● How
the learner, every time a mistake was made. nails into their flesh. Three participants had obe
uncontrollable seizures. app
● The learner sitting in the other room gave mainly the
wrong answers and received (fake) electric shocks ● Some showed few, if any, signs of discomfort. 40s.
starting at 15 volts and going up in 15 volts until
they reached 300 volts.
● At 300 volts the learner pounded on the wall and
then gave no responses to the next question. He
repeated this at 315 volts and from then on went
silent.
● If the teacher felt unsure about continuing, the
experimenter used a sequence of ‘prods’, which
were repeated if necessary – these include ‘please
continue’ and ‘the experiment requires that you
continue’.
AO3:
Research support Population validity Lacks internal validity
P There is research to support the P A weakness of Milgram’s research is P A weakness of Milgram’s research
presence that an authority figure can that it is lacking population validity. that it may lack internal validity du
have on obedience E Milgram's study used only 40 male to demand characteristics.
E For example, Hofling et al. studied participants from the USA E Research found that participants
obedience in a hospital. Nurses were E This means his sample was gender were ‘going along with the act’ wh
asked by an authority figure to give a biased and unrepresentative of they administered the electric
potentially dangerous dose of an females and the general population. shocks. Participants didn’t really
unfamiliar drug to a patient. 95% of Therefore, the results cannot be believe in the set up, they guessed
nurses (21 out of 22) followed this applied to females or any other wasn’t real electric shocks.
order. cultures because the sample E Participants may have been
E The nurses obeyed the order consisted solely of American males. demonstrating unnatural behaviou
because they were asked to do so by Additionally, collectivist cultures may because they knew that the electr
a doctor who is an authority figure have had lower levels of obedience shocks weren’t real. Thus they wer
who is credible and legitimate. because they care more about not naturally obeying but instead
L Therefore, this shows that Milgram’s others. choosing to cooperate. So, Milgram
research is supported by other L Therefore, this reduces the validity of isn’t really measuring obedience
research findings and in real life the research because the sample which is what he intended to
settings, Milgram’s findings have was lacking population validity. measure.
● There is the implication that the person wouldn’t otherwise have responded in this way without the order.
AO1:
Aims:
● Milgram carried out a series of studies to see how obedient people would be in a situation where obeying orders would m
innocent person.
Procedure: Findings: Conclus
● Milgram recruited 40 male participants by ● Every participant gave at least 300 volts. ● Peo
advertising volunteers (self-selected sample) for a eve
study of how punishment affects learning. ● 62.5% of participants (25 out of 40) continued to
give shocks up to the maximum 450 volts. ● This
● There were 2 confederates: an experimenter (the inju
authority figure) and a learner. The participant ● Most participants became highly distressed, figu
took on the role of the teacher and was told to sweating and pacing around the room. Several
administer increasingly strong electric shocks to cried, twitched or giggled nervously or dug their ● How
the learner, every time a mistake was made. nails into their flesh. Three participants had obe
uncontrollable seizures. app
● The learner sitting in the other room gave mainly the
wrong answers and received (fake) electric shocks ● Some showed few, if any, signs of discomfort. 40s.
starting at 15 volts and going up in 15 volts until
they reached 300 volts.
● At 300 volts the learner pounded on the wall and
then gave no responses to the next question. He
repeated this at 315 volts and from then on went
silent.
● If the teacher felt unsure about continuing, the
experimenter used a sequence of ‘prods’, which
were repeated if necessary – these include ‘please
continue’ and ‘the experiment requires that you
continue’.
AO3:
Research support Population validity Lacks internal validity
P There is research to support the P A weakness of Milgram’s research is P A weakness of Milgram’s research
presence that an authority figure can that it is lacking population validity. that it may lack internal validity du
have on obedience E Milgram's study used only 40 male to demand characteristics.
E For example, Hofling et al. studied participants from the USA E Research found that participants
obedience in a hospital. Nurses were E This means his sample was gender were ‘going along with the act’ wh
asked by an authority figure to give a biased and unrepresentative of they administered the electric
potentially dangerous dose of an females and the general population. shocks. Participants didn’t really
unfamiliar drug to a patient. 95% of Therefore, the results cannot be believe in the set up, they guessed
nurses (21 out of 22) followed this applied to females or any other wasn’t real electric shocks.
order. cultures because the sample E Participants may have been
E The nurses obeyed the order consisted solely of American males. demonstrating unnatural behaviou
because they were asked to do so by Additionally, collectivist cultures may because they knew that the electr
a doctor who is an authority figure have had lower levels of obedience shocks weren’t real. Thus they wer
who is credible and legitimate. because they care more about not naturally obeying but instead
L Therefore, this shows that Milgram’s others. choosing to cooperate. So, Milgram
research is supported by other L Therefore, this reduces the validity of isn’t really measuring obedience
research findings and in real life the research because the sample which is what he intended to
settings, Milgram’s findings have was lacking population validity. measure.
