Milgram Obedience

Background

• During WW2, the Nazis displayed high levels of destructive obedience as they were following orders of an authority figure, Adolf Hitler.

• Reason “Simply obeying order”

• Suggests were in agentic state

• Prior to conduction the study, Milgram asked 14 Students at Yale University College senior all majors in Psychology as well as professionals that how many people from his sample would administer a shock of 450V when ordered to by an experimenter.

• Their response was 1.2% or very low.

Psychology Being Investigated

Social Pressure

Agentic State

Autonomous State

Obedience

Destructive Obedience

Obedience and Destructive Obedience

Obedience refers to complying orders of an authority figure. Whereas, destructive obedience refers to complying orders of an authority figure to the extent that a person is causing harm to another person.

Agentic State and Autonomous State

When an individual gives up their own free will and acts as an agent to an authority figure it is referred to as agentic state. Whereas, when an individual rejects orders of an authority figures and acts according to their own freewill, it is referred to as autonomous state.

Social Pressure

Social pressure refer to the influence of an individual or a group of people on another individual or group of people.

Sample

• 40 Male ps via newspaper advertisement(effects of punishment on memory and learning). Paid 4$ participation fee and 0.50$tarvel fare. Will be paid 4.5$ even if don’t complete the study. Study will take 1hr of ps time. Volunteer Sampling

• Age group 20-50 (20% 20-29, 40% 30-39, 40% 40-50)

• Occupational Background (22% professional workers, 40% white collar workers, 38% skilled and unskilled)

• Area: New Haven, Connecticut

Method and Design

Controlled Observation(obedience level observed-operationalized by maximum level of shock administered)

Self Report: Interview during debriefing

Apparatus

Fake shock generator

Fake Shock generator

Started with 15V, ending 450V. Each switch corresponded to a red light that would brighten up, producing electrical buzzing sound. Followed by blue light lightening up labelled voltage energizer. Increase by 15V

Labels

15-60 Slight shock

75-120 Moderate Shock

135-180 Strong Shock

195-240 Very Strong Shock

255-300 Intense Shock

315-360 Extreme Intensity Shock

375-420 Danger Severe Shock

435-450 XXX

Procedure (Pre text and intro)

Lab at Yale University

1. Ps introduced to experimenter(Jack William 31 y/o Biology teacher, wore grey technicians coat, had impassive and stern manner) and stooge(Mr. Wallace, 47 y/o Irish-American, well-mannered and likeable, mentioned of heart condition-deception)

2. Pre Text “We don’t know about the effects of punishment on memory and learning. It is because not much research has been done on it. We don’t know ow much punishment is effective for memory and learning or what difference it makes as to who is giving punishment such as if an adult learns from a child or elderly. That’s why we are bring people together from different backgrounds to test this. We want to know what effect people have on each other as teacher and learner.”

Procedure (lots, strapping, real shock administration)

1. P and stooges draw lots to determine roles, rigged. P always teacher.

2. Learner strapped onto chair. Paste applied on wrist to prevent listers and burns(deception).

3. Teacher placed in front of sock generator, can’t see learner.

4. T given sample 45V, make him believe real. ONLY TIME REAL SHOCK ADMINISTERED. Asked to estimated (75-105V)

Procedure (learning and preliminary run)

1. Learner required to learn word pairs. T ask word pair by saying word and giving four options, 1 correct. L indicates answer by pressing 1 of 4 switches. Light turning up for each option in front of teacher.

2. Preliminary Run (wanted ps to follow certain instructions in event learner gives wrong answer). T told give shock each time wrong answer give. Move up shock when wrong answer give. Announce voltage before giving shock. L gives 7 correct for first 10 word pairs, then 1 correct to 3 wrong.