Milgram's study 16 mark first attempt

Outline and Evaluate Milgram's study into obedience (16 marks)

AO1

Psychologist Milgram wanted to test if people would prioritize their personal conscious or authority if it involved harming another person. Therefore, he conducted a laboratory experiment. He looked to see whether people would obey orders to shock another person in a different room. It took place at Yale University, in which is highly respected and prestigious. 40 men were chosen to take part. They individually were introduced to a confederate and asked to draw lots who would be a 'learner' or a 'teacher'. It was always rigged so the participant would be the teacher. The participant witnessed the confederate being strapped into a chair in which would provide him with electric shocks. The 'teacher' was then placed into another room and was told to ask the learner a series of word pairs. If the learner got the question wrong the participant would give him a shock starting from 15 Volts to 450 Volts. After they reached 300 Volts, the learner would then not respond. If the participant tried to leave, he would be given prods to continue by the experimenter. What Milgram found was frightening to the public. 26 participants (65%) proceeded to the full 450 Volts. None stopped before administering 300 V. To conclude, Milgram demonstrated that people will act against their conscience despite the situation to obey the authority.

A03

Firstly, Milgram's way of gaining results was through the use of Laboratory Experiment. This means, that the extraneous variables were limited and more controlled than if in a natural experiment. Because of the high control, it is easier to establish cause and effect and has made Milgram's results very replicable as Psychologists have repeated the experiment and obtained similar results.On the other hand, Milgram's choice of experiment style is an issue as it based in a lab, which is artificial. This suggests that perhaps people may not behave in the same way if in a more natural environment like at school or in an office. Therefore, his study lacks in ecological validity.The study is highly unethical. the situation caused triggered stress amongst the participants as they were sweating and trembling, placing them in a fearful situation.