Milgram (1963)’The behavioural study of obedience’ Stanley Milgram (1933-1984)

Where did it take place? What was the aim? Linsley-Chittenden Hall Yale University, USA What was the aim? What level of obedience would be shown by participants (Ps) when told by an authority figure, to administer electric shocks to another person.

Method and design A controlled observation in a laboratory Obedience was measured in terms of the voltage shocks given to the victim. Ps to be classed as obedient if they went all the way to administering 450v Ps reactions measured by observation and interview. Pre-experimental prediction was that less than 3% of P’s would go to max shock level

Selection of Participants Milgram put advert in a newspaper and direct mailing asking for volunteer male Americans from the New Haven area to participate in a psychology experiment about memory and learning. What type of sample is this? Self-selecting/ volunteer sampling

The participants 40 males aged between 20-50 Range of occupations and educational backgrounds Paid $4.50 for simply turning up and this was theirs to keep whatever happened.

The procedure On arriving at Yale, the participant (P) (Naïve) introduced to a tall, sharp and stern looking experimenter wearing a white lab coat (the authority figure) The naïve P is also introduced to a friendly co-participant, who is actually a ‘confederate’ Experimenter explains that they will investigate the affect of punishment on learning and that one of the participants will be a ‘teacher’ and one will be the ‘learner’ (this is a cover story). They draw rigged lots to determine roles so that the naïve participant will always be the ‘teacher’ and the confederate will always be the learner.

Confederate (learner) is strapped to a chair, helped by the Naive P and experimenter his arm is dotted with electrodes to give him ‘shocks’ if he gets answers wrong. (in fact no actual shocks were given to the learner) The only shock in the whole set-up was a slight shock given to the teacher to show that it was authentic

Footage of original experiment Play social_milgramvideo zip file

Room 1 Room 2 This is the confederate who is pretending to receive shocks Experimenter is the authority figure in the same room to ‘PROD’ the teacher (P) to OBEY him and keep giving shocks to the learner (Confederate) next door.

Experimenter instructs the ‘teacher’ (naïve P) to read out word pairs from a list, such as: clear – air dictionary – red He then says one word from a word pair and the ‘learner’ has to state the corresponding word If the ‘learner’ recalls the correct word, the teacher moves onto the next word.

Otherwise, the learner is given an ‘electric shock’ generated by the shock generator as punishment. These shocks increase in severity as more mistakes are made starting at 15 volts and growing to 450 volts in 15 volt increments (no real shocks!) The Shock Generator

Response of experimenter- to see if they will obey 4 Prods from the experimenter (the authority figure) to the teacher to obey Objection by teacher Response of experimenter- to see if they will obey 1st Please continue/please go on 2nd The experiment requires that you continue 3rd It is absolutely essential that you continue. 4th You have no other choice. You must go on.

Activity You have been taken through the set up of the Milgram experiment Now you have the opportunity to use pictures provided for you to reconstruct the order of the procedure and results. In small groups place pictures in order of events.

Results 26 435-450 5 8 1 315-360 255-300 375-420

Results: Quantitative Data 100% Ps went to the 300v level. (40/40) At 300v 5 refused to continue At 315v 4 refused to continue At 330v 2 refused to continue At 345, 360 and 375 1 each refused to continue. (14/40) 35% 65% Ps were obedient to 450v stated as XXX in terms of danger (26/40)

Results: Qualitative Data Ps accepted the situation With few exceptions ps were convinced by the reality of the set-up as confirmed by post-experimental interviews suggesting they thought the level of pain was thought to be ‘extremely painful’. Signs of extreme tension Many ps showed nervousness and a large number showed extreme tension. e.g. Sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, groans and digging fingernails into their flesh, nervous laughter, full-blown uncontrollable seizures.

Conclusions… Expectations before the study was carried out were that less than 3% would go to his highest level of shock. People’s behaviour is not just determined by their personality but is also determined by the situation Situational explanation People can be entrapped into fulfilling extreme requests by asking them to commit gradually in small steps. If people believe that any negative consequences of their behaviour can be blamed on someone else (e.g. the experimenter, the Nazis elite who were giving the orders) people are less likely to take moral responsibility for their actions.

Some reasons given by P’s for obeying The prestigious uni setting added legitimacy to the set up/experimenter P’s believed learner had also volunteered, so roles were allocated by chance. P’s felt obliged to continue due to agreeing to take part & being paid. P’s had no past experience to guide them. There was no obvious point at which to stop shocking as the increase was so minimal each time- gradual commitment P’s who withdrew, did so at the natural break when learner did not reply.

Assessment Activities Assessment 1 Milgram questions to complete (in your Booklet)