A Critical Analysis Of Stanley Milgram's Experiment

To experiment more on the participant’s response, another independent variable that could have influenced responses would have been if the participants, the teachers of the experiment, were able to see the learners. That way it replicates more of a learning environment where learners and teachers are face-to-face. In this case, both sides could still be in separate rooms, but instead there’s a screen showing the teacher the learner. Since the learner is only an actor and no actual harm is being inflicted unto them, and they could act like they are being shocked as well. Additionally, as the teacher is able to see the learner, a more formidable response is created as they can visually see

The Milgram experiment was conducted in 1963 by Stanley Milgram in order to focus on the conflict between obedience to authority and to personal conscience. The experiment consisted of 40 males, aged between 20 and 50, and who’s jobs ranged from unskilled to professional. The roles of this experiment included a learner, teacher, and researcher. The participant was deemed the teacher and was in the same room as the researcher. The learner, who was also a paid actor, was put into the next room and strapped into an electric chair. The teacher administered a test to the learner, and for each question that was incorrect, the learner was to receive an electric shock by the teacher, increasing the level of shock each time. The shock generator ranged from

The real subject being tested is the teacher; the learner is an actor who receives no pain. The experimenters want to see how the teacher prefers to inflict pain on the learner rather than disobey the authority.

On arriving for the experiment they were told that they would play he role of the teacher. They were to read a series of words pairs to an individual on the opposite side of a partition. They were to test the individuals' memory by giving him a word and asking him to select the correct matching word from four alternatives. Each time the learner made an error, they were to give him/her an electric shock at the touch of a lever. The individual was strapped into an electric chair while they watched. The teachers had levers in front of them labelled from 15 to 450 volts and switches labelled from slight shock to danger: severe shock to the final ‘XXX'. They were instructed to move one lever higher on the shock generator each time the learner made an error. There were not of course any shocks.

The learner and experimenter were actually controlled variables and part of the experiment. The teacher taught the learner certain words, then would test him on the words that the learner learned. If the learner answered wrong, the teacher would “shock” him with a small voltage of electricity. With each wrong answer, the teacher would have to increase the voltage. As well as, the learner needed to pretend that they were actually getting shocked since the teacher could not see the damage he was

In 1963 a psychologist named Stanley Milgram conducted one of the greatest controversial experiments of all time. Milgram tested students from Yale to discover the obedience of people to an authoritative figure. The subjects, whom did not know the shocks would not hurt, had to shock a “learner” when the “learner” answered questions incorrectly. Milgram came under fire for this experiment, which many proclaimed was unethical. This experiment of Milgram’s stimulated the creation of several responsive articles. Two articles that respond to this experiment are authored by Diane Baumrind and Ian Parker. These two authors attempt to review the methods, results, and ethical issues of Milgram’s experiment.

The experimenter would show the participant along with a confederate a shock generator with voltages of 15v to 450v (30 switches in 15v increments). Participants were told this was connected to a chair in another room. They then drew lots to decide who would be the “teacher” in charge of shocks and who the “learner” receiving shocks (the outcome was rigged for the participant to be the teacher). The confederate was then strapped into the chair, and the participant was given a sample shock of 45v from the generator (the only real shocks given during the experiment) and the experiment would begin. Word pairs were read out which the teacher would ask questions on through an intercom. Wrong answers received a shock which increased with each incorrect response. If the participant reached 450v they would repeat that level twice before the experiment was concluded. Any questioning or refusal to continue was met with standard answers from the experimenter such as “although the shocks are painful, there is no permanent tissue damage” or “the experiment requires that you continue”.

After each wrong question they were instructed to go higher on the voltage of shock. The learners would begin to scream and cry after so many shocks that high on the voltage so the teacher would look at the person in charge and the person would tell them to proceed on with the experiment. More then half of the subjects administered all thirty levels of shock. Milgram conclude that any of us would obey authority to harm

The Milgram experiment was set up to see the obedience and willingness of people through giving others pain. Milgram put out an ad in the paper asking people to participate in the experiment to receive a $5 reward. Each person who participated was asked to be the teacher and one of Milgrams students was always the student. The idea of the test was that the teacher had to read a set of words and if the student got the set of words incorrect then they would be shocked. Each time they got it wrong the shock would get stronger.

The estimates before Milgram’s experiment were in 2-3% of the subjects would be compliant, even to the point of administering a 450-volt shock to another person. The actual findings of the Milgram experiment being at 65% compliance came as a bit of a shock to everyone involved and to the rest of society. This demonstrates how for the most part, people think of themselves as autonomous, free thinking beings and view others in the same light. But due to the person-situation interaction, for the most part people will let the social influence of a given situation override their beliefs and characteristics (Stangor, Jhangiani, Tarry,

Stanley MIlgram is a Yale University social psychologist who wrote “Behavioral Study of Obedience”, an article which granted him many awards and is now considered a landmark. In this piece, he evaluates the extent to which a participant is willing to conform to an authority figure who commands him to execute acts that conflict with his moral beliefs. Milgram discovers that the majority of participants do obey to authority. In this research, the subjects are misled because they are part of a learning experience that is not about what they are told. This experiment was appropriate despite this. Throughout the process, subjects are exposed to various signs that show them

During the current events in the world, we tend to believe that we wouldn’t have obeyed a command or a favor that was against who we are and our beliefs. Is true that we wouldn't obey or we are oblivious of how we will act? Psychologists before Milgram’s experiment expected most people will refuse to obey rising the amount of shock, but the reality was way off as more than 65% of the participants delivered the maximum shock. What are the reasons behind the surprising level of obedience observed in Milgram’s experiment specifically, and in real life in general? In my opinion, no one can determine if they would be more or less likely to fall prey to obedience, especially if they don’t have any psychological disorders.

To authenticate the potential electrical intensity to the learner the teacher is sampled with a 45-volt shock to the wrist. The teacher is then instructed to administer an incrementally increasing punishing electrical shock for each incorrect answer. This follows several methods to inform the teacher of the potential impact of the electrical shock that they will administer. These included, warnings listing the voltage range of 15 to 450-volts labeled Slight Shock, Moderate Shock, Strong Shock, Extreme Intensity Shock, Danger Severe Shock, and XXX, bright red

After watching the video today about the Milgram experiment, I was very displeased. The Milgram experiment is a psychological test to see how far some people will go hurting another person they do not know one bit. The “teachers” that were reading the learners the questions had no idea who the person in the other room was and just shocked them because a man in a white lab coat that looks like they had authority over them told them to. The first person that was the one giving the test understood you should not hurt anyone you don’t know and took into consideration that someone shouldn’t be physically punished for getting an answer wrong. I believe if you get a bad grade you should just learn from your mistakes and fix it for next time. Even

The results came back conclusive on the behalf of peer pressure. In Milgram’s first set of experiments, 65% of participants administered the strongest voltage shock (450), although many were not comfortable in doing so. At one point, every single participant in the experiment paused and inquired about why the learners were being shocked for this, but many continued once informed that the testing was acceptable.