Obedience

following directions from an authority figure

what is obedience

40 naïve american male volunteers gave electric shocks to a 'learner'. an experimenter wearing a lab coat insisted that the teacher kept giving the learner shocks when they got an answer wrong

give the procedure of milgram's research

450V

how many volts did milgram's shock machine go up to

all pts went up to at least 300V, 65% up to 450V

what did milgram find

teachers were sweating, showing anxiety

give some qualitative findings about milgram's research

3% would go up to 450V

what were predictions prior to milgram's study?

ordinary people are willing to follow orders given by an authority figure, to the extent that they would hurt an innocent person

what did milgram conclude

there is supporting evidence & his findings have been replicated outside of the lab, hofling's nurse study found 21/22 nurses obeyed unjust instructions from a doctor

give positives of milgram's research

low internal validity as some pts guessed shocks were fake. also lacks external validity as the levels of obedience were affected by the artificial environment

give negatives of Milgram's research

suggested by tajfel and turner, it suggests that obedience is about the group you identify with rather than the authority figure

social identity theory: what is it?

when obedience fell, it was because pts identified less with science and more with the learner as they were in pain

how does social identity theory disprove milgram's research (negative ao3)

'you have no other choice, you must go on'. this feels as though the pts no longer has a right to withdraw

eg of a prod in milgram's research- why is it an ethical issue?

external factors that impact obedience levels

what are situational factors

-teacher and learner being in the same room lowered obedience from 65% to 40%

-touch: teachers forced learners hand onto plate, 30% obedience

-remote instruction: when given orders over the phone, 20.5% obedience

milgram: proximity variable

when conducted in rundown building, 47.5% obedience

milgram:location variable

member of public in everyday clothes gave orders resulting in 20% obedience

milgram: uniform variable

-bickman, research to support uniform variable

-scientific: high internal validity

positives of milgram's situational variables

-variations lack internal validity as pts knew procedure was fake

-limited practical applications

negatives of milgram's situational variables