The Milgram Experiment

The Milgram Experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted in the early 1960s by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram. The experiments began just 3 months after the start of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, and were designed to answer the question: Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders?

The Method of the Experiment  Subjects were recruited for the Yale study through newspaper ads and by direct mail. The experiments took place in two rooms in the basement of a university building. The experiment was advertised as lasting one hour, for which the respondents would be paid $4.50 whether they completed the task or not.  The participants were men between the ages of 20 and 50, from all educational backgrounds, ranging from an elementary school dropout to participants with doctoral degrees.

The Method of the Experiment  The role of the experimenter was played by a very stern biology teacher dressed in a white technician’s coat.  Participants arrived to meet the experimenter, as well as another “volunteer” for the experiment. This “volunteer” was in fact an actor trained to play the part.  The true volunteer and the other “volunteer” were told by the experimenter that they would be participating in an experiment to test the effects of punishment on learning.

The Method of the Experiment  A slip of paper was then give to each of them. The true volunteer was led to believe that one slip said “Learner” and the other said “Teacher”, and that both participants had been given the slip randomly.  In fact, both slips said “Teacher”, but the actor claimed to have the slip that said “Learner”, thus guaranteeing that the participant was the “Teacher”.  At this point, the newly-appointed Teacher and Learner were separated into different rooms where they could communicate verbally but not see each other. (In one version of the experiment, the Learner was sure to mention casually to the Teacher that he had a heart condition.)

The Method of the Experiment  To begin, the Teacher was given a sample 45-volt shock from an electro-shock generator by the Experimenter. The reason for this was to demonstrate to the Teacher the nature of the shock that the Learner would supposedly receive during the experiment each time he gave a wrong answer.

The Method of the Experiment  The shock generator that the Teacher was told to operate had 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each switch was labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts.  Each switch also had a rating, ranging from Slight shock to Danger: Severe shock. The final two switches being labeled XXX.

The Method of the Experiment  The subjects of the experiment (ie. the “Teachers”) believed that for each wrong answer, the Learner would receive actual shocks. In reality, there were no shocks.  After the Learner was separated from the Teacher, the Learner set up a tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played pre-recorded sounds for each shock level.

The Method of the Experiment  The Teacher was then given a list of word pairs, which he was to teach to the Learner. The Teacher began by reading the list of words pairs to the Learner. The Teacher would then read the first word of each pair, and then read four possible answers. The Learner would press a button to indicate his response. If the Learner was correct, the Teacher would proceed to the next word pair. If the answer was incorrect, the learner would receive a shock, with the voltage increasing with each wrong answer.

The Method of the Experiment  At 75 volts the learner would begin to grunt with pain. At 120 he would start to shout that the shocks were becoming painful. At 150 he would cry out that he had enough of the experiment. His protestations would turn to agonised screams at 270 volts.  At 300 he would shout in desperation that he would no longer provide answers (the experimenter would inform the teacher that no answer was a wrong answer). Beyond 315 volts the learner was silent.

The Method of the Experiment  At this point, many people indicated their desire to stop the experiment and check on the Learner. Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and began to question the purpose of the experiment.  Most continued after being assured that they would not be held responsible. A few subjects began to laugh nervously or exhibit other signs of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the Learner.

The Method of the Experiment  If at any time the subject indicated his desire to halt the experiment, he was given a succession of verbal prods by the experimenter, in this order:  Please continue.  The experiment requires that you continue.  It is absolutely essential that you continue.  You have no other choice – you must go on.

The Method of the Experiment  If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted. Otherwise, it was halted after the subject had given the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession.

Predictions…  Before the experiment was conducted, Milgram polled 14 Yale senior psychology majors as to what the results would be. All respondents believed that only a sadistic few (average 1.2%) would be prepared to give the maximum voltage.  Milgram also informally polled his colleagues, and found that they believed very few subjects would go beyond a very strong shock.

Results…  In Milgram’s first set of experiments, 65% (26 out of 40) of experimental participants administered the experiment’s final 450-volt shock, though many were quite uncomfortable doing so.  Everyone paused at some point and questioned the experiment, with some even saying that they would return the cheque for the money they were paid.  No participant steadfastly refused to give further shocks before the 300-volt level.  Similar experiments all around the world produced similar results.

Ethics  Milgram’s experiment raised many questions about the ethics of scientific experimentation because of the extreme emotional stress suffered by the participants.  In Milgram’s defense, 84% of former participants surveyed later said they were “glad” or “very glad” to have participated, and 15% chose neutral (92% of participants responded).  However, many people still looked at the experiment with great concern about its ethical integrity. What do you think?

Milgram’s Experiment