What validity and reliability did Milgram have in his experiment?
May 17, 2020 · Is Milgram's experiment reliable? Milgram's procedure is very reliable because it can be replicated – between 1961-2 he carried out 19 …
What is Milgram’s obedience experiment?
The Milgram obedience experiment is considered reliable because variables were mainly controlled and the results are reproducible. What did Milgram's experiment test? Milgram’s first obedience test investigated destructive obedience.
What is an example of Milgram's study?
Say What Validity and Reliability Milgram had in his Experiment and Explain Where it was Shown. Reliability Issues. Internal Reliability: This is where the results across the test are consistent. An example of this in Milgram’s study was that 26 people out of the 40 completed the experiment.
Is Milgram’s sample biased?
How is the Milgram shock experiment reliable?
Reliability: It was a controlled procedure as it took place in a lab setting – Milgram ensured a standardised procedure was followed, with set prompts and the same confederate (Mr Wallace) being used and the same tape recording.
What are the strengths of Milgrams study?
Some of the obvious advantages include the fact that it's got excellent reliability, given the similar results gained on the two repeats, and it's still a useful tool for waking us up to just how quiescent to authority many of us are, challenging theories such as the flight from deference.Jun 15, 2017
Is the Milgrams experiment valid?
Finally, Milgram's research lacked population validity. Milgram used a bias sample of 40 male volunteers, which means we are unable to generalise the results to other populations, in particular females, and cannot conclude if female participants would respond in a similar way.Mar 22, 2021
Was Milgrams experiment deceptive?
Deception – the participants actually believed they were shocking a real person and were unaware the learner was a confederate of Milgram's. However, Milgram argued that “illusion is used when necessary in order to set the stage for the revelation of certain difficult-to-get-at-truths.”
What are the weaknesses of the Milgram experiment?
One weakness of Milgram's study is that the sample was biased. The sample consisted of 40 male participants, who were aged between 20-50, middle class, white American citizens.
What are some limitations of the Milgram experiment?
Disadvantagesthey were only from one area, New Haven,so the sample is not fully generalisable. This means you cant say people from other countries/coultures/areas would be obedient.Only 40 men so not representative of all men and their obedience levels.May 16, 2013
Does Milgrams study have high external validity?
One of the strongest criticisms of Milgrams research was the belief that as it was carried out in laboratory conditions it had low ecological or external validity. Due to the study being conducted in a laboratory it was believed it would be hard to generalise the findings to real life situations.
Who Criticised Milgram experiment?
One of the most vocal of those critics is Australian author and psychologist Gina Perry, who documented her experience tracking down Milgram's research participants in her 2013 book Behind the Shock Machine: The Untold Story of the Notorious Milgram Psychology Experiments.Jan 28, 2015
Why the Milgram experiment was unethical?
The experiment was deemed unethical, because the participants were led to believe that they were administering shocks to real people. The participants were unaware that the learner was an associate of Milgram's. However, Milgram argued that deception was necessary to produce the desired outcomes of the experiment.
Is deceit really necessary for research?
In general, deception is not acceptable in human studies. Occasionally, it is necessary to mislead the participants who are subjects of a study in order to obtain unbiased information. The Institute Review Board (IRB) must review very carefully the proposals that use deception or misrepresentation.
Did Milgram break ethical guidelines?
Although he did not expect the out come of his research, but his ethics shows that the research is beneficial of understanding the welfare of World War II. However, it is unethical at some point of his research because he breaks the guidelines of deception and the right to non-participation.
Is deception acceptable in psychological research?
Deception in psychological research is often stated as acceptable only when all of the following conditions are met: 1) no other nondeceptive method exists to study the phenomenon of interest; 2) the study makes significant contributions to scientific knowledge; 3) the deception is not expected to cause significant ...
Why is Milgram's experiment controversial?
Milgram’s experiment has been widely criticized on ethical grounds. Milgram’s participants were led to believe that they acted in a way that harmed someone else, an experience that could have had long-term consequences. Moreover, an investigation by writer Gina Perry uncovered that some participants appear to not have been fully debriefed after the study —they were told months later, or not at all, that the shocks were fake and the learner wasn’t harmed. Milgram’s studies could not be perfectly recreated today, because researchers today are required to pay much more attention to the safety and well-being of human research subjects.
What was the purpose of the Milgram experiment?
The goal of the Milgram experiment was to test the extent of humans' willingness to obey orders from an authority figure. Participants were told by an experimenter to administer increasingly powerful electric shocks to another individual. Unbeknownst to the participants, shocks were fake and the individual being shocked was an actor.
Who is Elizabeth Hopper?
Caiaimage/Andy Roberts/Getty Images. Elizabeth Hopper, Ph.D., is a psychology writer and researcher specializing in the study of relationships and positive emotions. In the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of studies on the concepts of obedience and authority.
What was the highest shock level in the Milgram experiment?
In 2009, Jerry Burger replicated Milgram’s famous experiment at Santa Clara University with new safeguards in place: the highest shock level was 150 volts, and participants were told that the shocks were fake immediately after the experiment ended.
Who was the psychologist who studied obedience?
In the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a series of studies on the concepts of obedience and authority. His experiments involved instructing study participants to deliver increasingly high-voltage shocks to an actor in another room, who would scream and eventually go silent as the shocks became stronger.
What is Milgram's interpretation of his research?
Milgram’s interpretation of his research was that everyday people are capable of carrying out unthinkable actions in certain circumstances. His research has been used to explain atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, though these applications are by no means widely accepted or agreed upon.
What is internal validity?
Validity Issues. Internal Validity: This refers to factors such as extraneous variables or bias that could lead to a change in attitude. Bias would not be likely to occur because the teacher had no idea what was going on because they thought they were testing the learner.
What is face validity?
Face Validity: This refers to if the test measures what it is supposed to measure. This is not in Milgram because the participants were deceived so they did not know what was going on else it would have changed their results. They thought the learner was strapped to the electrocution chair but they were not.
What is predictive validity?
Predictive Validity: This means the extent to which a test predicts an outcome in the future. You could say that Milgram’s experiment did this because he could see through his research and findings using different Independent Variables, that people will respond to a high authority figure.
What is Milgram's obedience experiment?
Milgram’s obedience experiment is one of the most useful examples to illustrate the strengths and limitations of laboratory experiments in psychology/ sociology, as well as revealing the punishingly depressing findings that people are remarkably passive in the face of authority…
What was Stanley Milgram interested in?
Stanley Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into committing atrocities for example, Germans in WWII.
How much did volunteers get paid for just turning up?
Participants were 40 males, aged between 20 and 50, whose jobs ranged from unskilled to professional, from the New Haven area. They were paid $4.50 for just turning up.
Do ordinary people follow orders?
Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being. Obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up.
What did Milgram investigate?
Milgram (1963) examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials.
What was Stanley Milgram interested in?
Stanley Milgram was interested in how easily ordinary people could be influenced into committing atrocities, for example, Germans in WWII.
Who was the scientist who studied obedience?
The Milgram Shock Experiment. One of the most famous studies of obedience in psychology was carried out by Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University. He conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.
Why did the experimenter wear a gray lab coat?
In the original baseline study – the experimenter wore a gray lab coat as a symbol of his authority (a kind of uniform). Milgram carried out a variation in which the experimenter was called away because of a phone call right at the start of the procedure.
How much did volunteers get paid for just turning up?
Participants were 40 males, aged between 20 and 50, whose jobs ranged from unskilled to professional, from the New Haven area. They were paid $4.50 for just turning up.
How much did obedience fall when the experimenter instructed and prompted the teacher by telephone from another room?
When the experimenter instructed and prompted the teacher by telephone from another room, obedience fell to 20.5%.
Did Milgram debrief the participants?
However, Milgram did debrief the participants fully after the experiment and also followed up after a period of time to ensure that they came to no harm. Milgram debriefed all his participants straight after the experiment and disclosed the true nature of the experiment.
What was the purpose of the Milgram experiment?
This task was designed to investigate how punishment—in this case in the form of electric shocks—affected learning. Volunteers thought they were participating in pairs, but their partner was in fact a confederate of the experimenter.
Who conducted the Milgram experiment?
Photo from the Milgram Experiment. More than fifty years ago, then Yale psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted the famous—or infamous—experiments on destructive obedience that have come to be known as “Milgram’s shocking experiments” (pun usually intended). Milgram began his experiments in July 1961, the same month that the trial ...
Structure of The Experiment
Procedure of The Milgram Experiment
- In the Teacher’s presence, the Experimenter strapped the Learner into a chair and attached electrodes to his arms. Teacher and Experimenter then went into an adjacent room where a mock electric shock generator was located. The device displayed a row of 30 switches, indicating that shocks ranged from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger – severe shock). The Experimen…
Results of The Milgram Experiment
- The studies took place only 16 years following World War II, and Milgram wondered if there might be a link between the cruel actions of ordinary German citizens during the Holocaust and their willingness to submit to authority. Results of Milgrim’s experiment showed that 65% of Teachers continued to give shocks all the way up to the highest voltage. He found that as long as the Tea…
Implications of The Experiments
- Are the Milgram experiments still relevant in today’s America? Are Americans as fiercely independent and autonomous as they think they are? Or do they submit to authority more often than they realize? These days, America is deeply divided politically. Do members of each camp decide using their own moral standard? Or do they feel pressured into supporting their party’s ag…
Milgram’s Famous Experiment
Critiques of The Milgram Experiment
- Milgram’s experiment has been widely criticized on ethical grounds. Milgram’s participants were led to believe that they acted in a way that harmed someone else, an experience that could have had long-term consequences. Moreover, an investigation by writer Gina Perry uncovered that some participants appear to not have been fully debriefed after the study—they were told month…
Variations on The Milgram Experiment
- Milgram and other researchers conducted numerous versions of the experiment over time. The participants' levels of compliance with the experimenter’s demands varied greatly from one study to the next. For example, when participants were in closer proximity to the learner (e.g. in the same room), they were less likely give the learner the highest level of shock. Another version of t…
Replicating The Milgram Experiment
- Researchers have sought to replicate Milgram's original study with additional safeguards in place to protect participants. In 2009, Jerry Burger replicated Milgram’s famous experimentat Santa Clara University with new safeguards in place: the highest shock level was 150 volts, and participants were told that the shocks were fake immediately after the experiment ended. Additi…
Milgram’s Legacy
- Milgram’s interpretation of his research was that everyday people are capable of carrying out unthinkable actions in certain circumstances. His research has been used to explain atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, though these applications are by no means widely accepted or agreed upon. Importantly, not all participants obeyed the experimenter’s dem…
Sources
- Baker, Peter C. “Electric Schlock: Did Stanley Milgram's Famous Obedience Experiments Prove Anything?” Pacific Standard (2013, Sep. 10). https://psmag.com/social-justice/electric-schlock-65377
- Burger, Jerry M. "Replicating Milgram: Would People Still Obey Today?." American Psychologist 64.1 (2009): 1-11. http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2008-19206-001
- Baker, Peter C. “Electric Schlock: Did Stanley Milgram's Famous Obedience Experiments Prove Anything?” Pacific Standard (2013, Sep. 10). https://psmag.com/social-justice/electric-schlock-65377
- Burger, Jerry M. "Replicating Milgram: Would People Still Obey Today?." American Psychologist 64.1 (2009): 1-11. http://psycnet.apa.org/buy/2008-19206-001
- Gilovich, Thomas, Dacher Keltner, and Richard E. Nisbett. Social Psychology. 1st edition, W.W. Norton & Company, 2006.
- Hollander, Matthew. “How to Be a Hero: Insight From the Milgram Experiment.” HuffPost Contributor Network (2015, Apr. 29). https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/how-to-be-a-hero-insight-_b_6566882
