Psychology- key Studies

Psychology- key Studies

1. Milligram's study into obedience/submissive compliance

   • Aim
     • To test if the introduction of an authoritative figure results in obedience with society.
   • Obedience- A position in which you act according to the orders of s superior.
     • Compliance- Acts on the explicit request of their peers.
       • Conformity- When a person changes their behaviour deliberately to the will of another
   • Procedure
     • Sample was obtained by taking out an advert in the local newspaper, offered £4.50 an hour to take part in a 'experiment'.
       • Total of 296 responded.
         • Sample wasn't big enough, In order to increase size, random people were selected from a phone book and asked if they would be a participant, increased sample size using random sampling.
           • Of the total sample there was a spread of ages, 20/30/40+. In addition there was a spread of professions. 40% were unspecialised workers. 20% had professional careers and 40% had 'white collar jobs.
           • All Participants were invited to an appointment at Yale university. Intended to install sense of authority and legitimacy from the beginning
             • All participants were told the purpose of the study was to see if punishment was the best way people could learn. In addition the Ps would meet a confederate they believed tot be another member of the public.
               • Both giving a role (always fixed). The confederate was always the 'student' and the Ps was the 'teacher'.
                 • Student then hooked up to a 'electric' chair, purposely raised heart issue.
                   • Student also given mild electrical shock at the beginning of the experiment to reinforce the idea of legitimate danger
                 • Teacher was taken to a separate room opposite the student. The room consisted of a electric switch bored, which graduated from 15 to 450 volts. In addition were qualitative scales graduating from slight shock to xxx.
                   • Behind the teacher was a desk, for a 'scientist' who acted as the authoritative figure.
                   • Teacher asked to read out word associations, every time the student got the wrong answer they were given a shock. Shock level increased after every wrong answer.
                     • mild display of pain showed up to 300 volts, then there was loud protest, angry and agitated behaviour, banging on the walls then silence
                       • Any display of moral strain or resistance from the Ps towards the Scientist was meet with 4 prompts to continue, going from 'you must continue' to 'the experiment requires that you continue'
                         • Results
                           • 100% continued to 300 volts
                           • 65% continued to 450 volts
                           • Conclusions
                             • Under certain circumstance, i.e. the introduction of an authoritative figure, most people will obey and ignore moral strain.
                               • When people occupy a subordinate position in a structured hierarchy they become liable to lose all feelings and empathy, compassion, inhibition and morality. They are inclined towards blind obedience.
                               • Atrocities such as those in world war two can be largely explained using agency theory and the pressure to obey an authority figure.
                                 • Agency theory! Agentic vs Autonomous behavioural states.
                           • Criticisms of the Milligram study
                             • Diana Baumridd's (1994) Criticism was based on 3 ethical issues
                               • 1-He was wrong in deceiving his Ps as to the true purpose of the experiment.
                                 • 2- He was wrong in letting the Ps believe they were inflicting true pain on another human being.
                                   • 3-He was wrong to put Ps in a conflict situation that many found stressful.
                             • Diana Baumridd also said that Milligram's study did not provide adequate protection for Ps from the stress and realization that they were capable of committing brutal actions against another.
                               • The entire experiment should have been terminated at the first sign of discomfort from the Ps.
                               • Due to the intensity and controversial nature of milligram's experiment, people who may take part in future experiments will be deterred.
                           • Strengths of the Milligram study.
                             • Supported by other experiments I.E. the Hofling study.
                               • Rich in Quantitative data. Has supporting and significant data.
                                 • Large sample size increasing validity and reliability.
                             • Weakness of the Milligram study
                               • Lacks mundane realism.
                                 • Difficult to apply to the general population.
                                   • Difficult to repeat due to ethical issues.
                                     • Key ethical implications
                                       • Many Ps did no believe the experiment was actually real.
                                 • Lacks ecological validity.
                         • Moral strain- Acting against your true will or inner convictions creates moral strain.
       • Sample type was volunteer. No control over who participated. Increased genrelisbility but lose of experimental controls.
   • Ethical Implacations
     • Deception- The entire experiment was rested on the basis that the Ps had no knowledge behind the true purpose of the experiment. There was significant deception, which led to the Ps believing they were inflicting pain on to another. Risking both the physical and mental welfare of those involved. Overlall deception lead to a series of other ethical issues.
       • Informed consent- Due to the use of deception it was impossible for the Ps to truly come to an informed decision
       • Protection from harm- All Ps underwent some form a mental or moral strain, resulting in stress and in severe cases and induced seizure. However the debrief removed any mental harm and offered long term check ups on all Ps.
         • Right to withdraw- It was clear the Ps were given no option to withdraw and had to come to that decision independently and forcefully. In fact all Ps were explicitly encouraged to stay.
         • Competency of the researcher- All other issues raise this into question. However a brilliant debrief does support Milligram's ability.