WJEC Psychology Psy 2 Core Studies

1. WJEC Psychology Psy 2Core Studies Milgram S. (1963) Behavioural study of obedience.

2. Aim • Some Germans that took part in the atrocities of WW2 were put on trial in Nuremburg. • The perpetrators of cruel crimes often said at these trials that they were only obeying orders. • In this study Stanley Milgram aimed to test the hypothesis ‘the Germans are different’.

3. Participants • Forty male participants answered a newspaper advertisement making it a self selected (or volunteer) sample. • They were aged between 20 and 50 • Their jobs ranged from the unskilled to professional • The participants were paid $4.50.

4. Procedures • The participants had been deceived into thinking that the research was about memory and learning when in actual fact it was into obedience. • Lots were drawn to assign participants to be either a teacher or a learner but it was rigged so that the real participant was always the teacher.

5. Procedures • ‘Mr Wallace’ (a confederate of Milgram’s) was always the learner and was strapped into a chair with electrodes attached to his wrists. • The participant was instructed to give Mr Wallace an electric shock each time he gave a wrong answer.

6. Procedures • There were 30 switches on the shock generator marked: 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger – severe shock) • The teacher was told to increase the shock level by 15 volts each time a wrong answer was given. • As the shock level increase, Mr Wallace showed his discomfort by calling out with phrases that had been decided beforehand and were the same for all participants.

7. Procedures • If the participant showed signs of stopping because of the shouts from Mr Wallace, the experimenter would say ‘please continue’ or ‘the experiment requires that you continue’.

8. Findings • All participants gave shocks up to 300v • 65% of participants continued to the highest level of 450v • Participants showed signs of distress including trembling, sweating, stuttering, groaning and some even dug their fingernails into their own flesh.

9. Conclusions • Obedience to authority is due more to situational factors than to personality. • This contradicts the ‘Germans are different’ hypothesis and shows that ordinary people will obey an authority figure.

10. Evaluation • In a questionnaire sent out by Milgram only 1% of the true participants said they were sorry they participated. • Some said they were glad to have taken part and they had learned something about themselves. • Others said it had been worth while even if only to warn them of about blind obedience in the future. • Milgram said that the reason people were upset about the findings was what it showed about human nature. It is easier to blame inhuman nature on evil personalities rather than admit that most people would commit such atrocities.

11. Evaluation • Participants were put under extreme tension and emotional strain and were not protected from harm. • Research conducted under laboratory conditions may not give the same results as real life situations.