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10 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Research aim |
To investigate what level of obedience would be shown when participants were told by an authority figure to administer electric shocks to another person. |
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Hypothesis |
Only 1% would inflict the full 450 volts
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Participants |
40 male participants between the ages of 20 and 50 years
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Participant selection and allocation |
Convenience sampling - no allocation
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Procedure |
Participant is partnered up with the confederate
Fake draw for positions Participant watches learner (confederate) get strapped into the electric shock machine. Confederate mentions heart problem and inquires whether or no this will affect them negatively. Participant is taken to a separate room and are told about the electric shock machine. At this point the learner unstraps himself from the machine and pulls out a tape recorder and the answers. Participant begins to test the learner The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time. The learner gave mainly wrong answers (on purpose) and for each of these the teacher gave him an electric shock. When the teacher refused to administer a shock the experimenter was to give a series of prods to ensure they continued. Prod 1: please continue. Prod 2: the experiment requires you to continue. Prod 3: It is absolutely essential that you continue. Prod 4: you have no other choice but to continue. |
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Results |
12.5% stopped at 300 volts.
65% (two thirds) of participants continued to the highest level of 450 volts. |
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Generalisations |
When someone is given an instruction to inflict pain on another person by an authority, they are highly likely to comply |
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Ethical issues |
No lasting harm - Participants were exposed to extremely stressful situations that may have the potential to cause psychological harm.
Deception – the participants actually believed they were shocking a real person, and were unaware the learner was a confederate. Debriefed the participants and then checked in later. |
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IV |
The presence of an authority figure. |
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DV |
The participant's responses - how obedient they were. |
