Unit 2 – Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioural Study of Obedience (procedures)

What sampling method did Milgram use?

Volunteer (self-select) sample and he selected 40 males from those who responded to the newspaper advertisement.

Where was Milgram’s research advertised?

In a New Haven newspaper.

What study did the men believe they were participating in?

A study of memory and learning.

What were the men like?

They were were aged between 20-50 and had a variety of jobs (high school teachers, salesmen and engineers etc.)

What were the educational levels of the men like?

They varied from one who had not finished elementary school to those who had doctorates and degrees.

How much was each man paid for taking part in experiment.

$4.50. They were told that the money was for attending the lab and they could keep it regardless of what happened after they arrived.

What type of study was it?

A controlled observation that took place in a lab at Yale University.

What happened upon the participants’ arrival?

Participants were introduced to another ‘participant’, Mr Wallace (a confederate). Participants drew slips to decide who would play the role of the teacher and the learner. The confederate always became the learner because the draw was rigged – both slips read ‘teacher’.

Immediately after the draw, the teacher and learner were taken to an adjacent room, and the learner was strapped to an ‘electric chair’.

Where would the participant be taken after watching the learner being strapped in to an ‘electric chair’?

The teacher (participant) was then taken to an adjoining room containing a shock machine. The shock machine had 30 switches starting at ‘slight shock’ (15 volts) all the way up to ‘XXX’ (450 volts). The ‘experimenter’ (a confederate in a grey coat) acted as the authority figure and gave the teacher a sample shock to demonstrate that the machine was real. The experimenter stayed in the same room as the teacher (participant).

What instructions did Milgram give the confederate (Mr Wallace)?

To give approximately three wrong answers to every correct one. Mr Wallace was also told to make set responses, and at 300 volts would begin to shout and pound on the walls and then fail to answer any further questions.

What was the learner’s task?

The learner was given a list of word pairs to learn, and they would be given a word and asked to recall the word it was paired with.

What was the teacher’s task?

To give the learner a word and ask them to recall the word it was paired with. When the learner gave an incorrect answer, the teacher was told to administer a shock, announcing the shock level each time. The teacher would increase the voltage each time.

What did Milgram instruct the experimenter to do in response to any hesitation from the teacher?

Answer with one of four verbal prods:

- Please continue.

  - The experiment requires you to continue.

  - It’s absolutely essential that you continue.

  - You have no other choice, you must go on.

What would happen at the end of the research?

The teacher was thoroughly debriefed, which included the experimenter reuniting the teacher and learner. They were then interviewed about their experience.

What was Milgram’s finding regarding outcome of the study?

Before the study, Milgram surveyed 14 psychology majors who estimated that 0-3% of participants would administer the full 450 volts, meaning the response was unexpected.

What was Milgram’s finding regarding participants’ responses?

100% went to 300 volts (when the learner started pounding on wall), 65% went to 450 volts (maximum voltage), and 35% disobeyed after 300 volts.

How many participants displayed signs of extreme tension?

14, and 3 had full-blown seizures.

What signs of extreme tension did Milgram observe?

Nervous laughter and smiling, sweating, stuttering, biting their lip and digging their fingernails in their flesh.

What were Milgram’s conclusions?

Milgram concluded that the circumstances in which the participants found themselves would combine to create a situation in which it is proved difficult to disobey.

Milgram concluded that there were 13 elements of this situation that had contribute to these levels of obedience, such as payment and the experiment taking place at Yale University, which had an ‘unimpeachable reputation’.