Obtaining his Ph. Milgram staged meticulously designed sham experiments in which subjects were ordered to administer dangerous shocks to fellow volunteers in reality, the other volunteers were confederates and the shocks were fake.
Contradicting the predictions of every expert he polled , Milgram found that more than seventy percent of the subjects administered what they thought might be fatal shocks to an innocent stranger.
Collectively known as The Milgram Experiment, this groundbreaking work demonstrated the human tendency to obey commands issued by an authority figure, and more generally, the tendency for behavior to be controlled more by the demands of the situation than by idiosyncratic traits of the person.
The Milgram Experiment is one of the best-known social psychology studies of the 20th century. With this remarkable accomplishment under his belt, young Dr. During this time at Harvard, Milgram undertook a new, equally innovative line of research, known as the Small World Experiment. In fact, this assumption begs the critical question at issue.
However, French television came to the rescue. In fact, the replication suggests a darker picture. One of optimistic findings of the original Milgram experiment was his condition 7, in which there were three teachers, two of whom both confederates of the experimenter defied the experimenter. Given this social support, most subjects refused to continue to administer shocks, suggesting that social solidarity serves as a kind of a defense against destructive obedience to authority.
Unfortunately, this did not occur in the French replication, in which the production assistant protested about the immorality of the procedure with virtually no effect on levels of obedience.
And unfortunately, not in the Burger study either: Burger found that the intervention of an accomplice who refused to continue had no effect on the levels of obedience. A dark thought for our dark times. His primary research is in the history and philosophy of social and psychological science. Popular on Behavioral Scientist. By Eric Johnson. By Anupriya Kukreja. By Steven Pinker. By Evan Nesterak.
View Most Popular. Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology , 67, — Link Burger, J. Shock levels were labeled from 15 to volts. Besides the numerical scale, verbal anchors added to the frightful appearance of the instrument. Beginning from the lower end, jolt levels were labeled: "slight shock," "moderate shock," "strong shock," "very strong shock," "intense shock," and "extreme intensity shock. In response to the supposed jolts, the "learner" actor would begin to grunt at 75 volts; complain at volts; ask to be released at volts; plead with increasing vigor, next; and let out agonized screams at volts.
Eventually, in desperation, the learner was to yell loudly and complain of heart pain. At some point the actor would refuse to answer any more questions. Finally, at volts the actor would be totally silent-that is, if any of the teacher participants got so far without rebelling first.
Teachers were instructed to treat silence as an incorrect answer and apply the next shock level to the student. If at any point the innocent teacher hesitated to inflict the shocks, the experimenter would pressure him to proceed. Such demands would take the form of increasingly severe statements, such as "The experiment requires that you continue.
What do you think was the average voltage given by teachers before they refused to administer further shocks? What percentage of teachers, if any, do you think went up to the maximum voltage of ? Results from the experiment. Some teachers refused to continue with the shocks early on, despite urging from the experimenter. This is the type of response Milgram expected as the norm.
But Milgram was shocked to find those who questioned authority were in the minority. Participants demonstrated a range of negative emotions about continuing.
Some pleaded with the learner, asking the actor to answer questions carefully. Others started to laugh nervously and act strangely in diverse ways. Some subjects appeared cold, hopeless, somber, or arrogant. Some thought they had killed the learner.
Nevertheless, participants continued to obey, discharging the full shock to learners.
0コメント