Obedience

Who created the baseline obedience study

Milgram 1963

what was the setup for Milgram’s obedience study

learner strapped into a chair in a separate room and wired with electrodes, learner has to remember word pairs, teacher shocked learner by pressing switches

what were the switches on a shock machine that the teacher has to press labelled with

slight shock to danger severe shock

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: how many particpants were recruited

40 American males and they thought it was a memory study

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: what did each participant have to do when they arrived at the lab

drew dots for their role

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: who was the learner always with in Milgram’s study

a confederate called mr Wallace

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE & SV PROXIMITY: who was the true participant in Milgram’s study

teacher

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: True or false the teacher could hear but not see the learner

true

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: what did the teacher have to do towards the learner every time they got an answer wrong

increasingly severe electric ‘shock’

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: what did the fake shocks increase by

15v to 450v

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: why did the teacher believe the shocks were real

because they were labelled

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE: when the teacher wanted to stop what 4 prods did the experimenter use (in order)

please continue, experiment requires that you continue, it is absolutely essential that you continue, you have no choice you must go on

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: how many stopped at 300v

12.5% = 5 participants

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: how many continued to 450v

65%

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: during observations what did participants show signs of

extreme tension, 3 had uncontrollable seizures

what type of data is an observation

qualitative

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: before the study what did milgram do

asked 14 psychology students to predict how they thought naïve participants would respond

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: what did the 14 psychology students predict

no more than 3% would continue to 450v

MILGRAMS BASELINE PROCEDURE FINDINGS: after the study the participants were debriefed and did a follow up questionnaire what did they find

84% were glad they participated

What did Milgram conclude from his baseline obedience study?

we obey legit authority even if our behaviour will cause someone else harm

Which replications SUPPORT Milgrams findings for his baseline obedience study

Gryzb et al 2023 found 90% of participants obeyed orders up to 150v, supports how obedience to authority can be high

Why does the fact that Milgram’s Obedience baseline study lack internal validity a LIMITATION

Orne and Holland 1968 believed participants guessed shocks were fake = demand characteristics, Perry 2013 found only half believed shocks were real, obedience not genuine

What is a COUNTERPOINT to the fact that Milgram’s obedience baseline study lacked internal validity

Sheridan and king 1972 found 54% men and 100% women delivered what they thought was a fatal shock to a puppy, shows obedience can be genuine

LIMITATION: Why isn’t blind obedience the only explanation for Milgram’s obedience baseline study

Haslam et al 2014 found participants obeyed first 3 orders but not 4th, first 3 involved identification with science

What did Perry 2013 find?

analysed Milgram’s recordings, experimenter went off script sometimes, some participant guessed shocks were fake

what are the 3 explanations for obedience based on SITUATIONALVARIABLES (sv)

proximity, location, uniform

SV PROXIMITY: what does the PROXIMITY study involve

closeness of learner and teacher

SV PROXIMITY: In the baseline procedure what could the teacher see but not hear

learner

SV PROXIMITY: in the Proximity variation what happened when L and T were in same room

obedience rate dropped 65% to 40%

What does L and T stand for

learner and teacher

SV PROXIMITY: What happened in the Touch proximity variation

T forced L hand onto shock plate, obedience=30%

SV PROXIMITY: what happened in the Remote instruction variation

E left room and gave instructions by phone, obedience=20.5%, participants pretended to give fake shocks

What does E stand for

experimenter

SV PROXIMITY EXPLANATION: What does decreased proximity do to people

psychologically distance themselves from consequences of their actions

SV LOCATION: where was the study conducted

moved from Yale to run down building

TRUE OR FALSE: the baseline procedure for the proximity variation is the same for the location variation

True as the procedure is the same and the T still uses a shock plate, just uses location differences not proximity

SV LOCATION: what was the baseline procedure for the location variation study

Yale

SV LOCATION: what was the obedience at Yale and why

65% because setting was legit and had authority

SV LOCATION: what did obedience drop to in the run down building variation study

47.5%

SV UNIFORM: what did E wear in the baseline study

grey lab coat

SV UNIFORM: What happened to the E in one variation

was called away by a phone call at the start of procedure and his role was taken over by an ordinary member of public in every day clothes

SV UNIFORM: what did obedience fall to after E left

20%

SV UNIFORM EXPLANATION: what is good about uniform

strong symbol of legit authority granted by society, no uniform=less obedience