milgram a01 a03

Aim

To see if people would obey orders from an authority figure even when there are fatal consequences

Deceived aim

He told participants that the study was about punishments effect on memory

Sample

40 American men aged 20-50, range of educational background, all from new haven area aged 20-50, got payed $4 an hour and 50 cents transport fee

Procedure

Introduced to confederate “mr Wallace” who said he had a heart attack 6 months ago and was out of work because of it.

Fixed draw to decide who was who

Ppt was taken to a room and shown the machine to administer shocks

Told to give shocks increasing by 15 v from 15 - 450 v

Machine was labelled with danger

Fake shocks with recording

If teachers asked to spot 4 prods

Results , quanaive

100% gave up to 300 v

12.5% stopped there

65% gave 450v

Results qualative

Pts looked uncomfy

Sweating

Nervous laughter

3 uncontrolled seizures

Hesitation

Conclusion

Ps would obey the orders of an authority figure, Germans no different

Weakness, ethics

Deception, informed consent, right to withdraw, protection from harm

Strength, reliability

Lab environment , very very controlled. Very replicable

Strength , practical application

Legal , how to teach non conformance, understanding blind obedience

Weakness, sample

40 all American all men lacks population validity