MILGRAM EXPERIMENT

The learner and teacher are picked by drawing a piece of paper from the hand of the experimenter.  How is it that the Learner is always chosen and is always the same person.  Simple, both pieces of paper offered by the experimenter have the word “teacher” on them.  The Learner simply says that his says “learner.”   He is, after all, in on the experiment.

The Learner said he had a heart condition.  He was told: Although the shocks may be painful, they are not dangerous.

The Teacher then receives a sample shock.  He feels it is 75 volts.  It was only 45 volts.

The Teacher reads the word pairs.  Shocks increase by 15 volts with each wrong answer.  The total amount on the generator is 450 volts.

Friendly reconciliation was arranged before the Teacher left the experiment.

At 150 volts the Learner asks the experimenter to let him out.

 The experimenter used sentences like the following.  What they have in common is that they do not indicate who is responsible:

"The experiment requires that you go on.  The experiment requires that you continue.   Please go on!"

"It is absolutely essential that the experiment go on, Teacher."

"Whether the Learner likes it or not, the experiment must go on. "

"Continue please, Teacher."

"You have no other choice, Teacher. "

Why did people laugh at the pain of the Learner?  

Did you laugh when you heard the first yell of the Learner? 

Why did the experimenter pretend that the experiment was about pain influencing the memory?

What was the true nature of the experiment?

Why were the Teachers obedient?  What would make them more/less obedient?

What is an independent variable? a dependent variable?  SEE BOTTOM

What happens when:

          Person is in other room, tap at 300 volts

          Person next to the one giving the shock

          Victim had hand forced on the plate by the subject.

Subject-victim proximity (closeness).  The experiment shows that the closer the subject (giver of shocks) is to the learner, the less likely the subject is to be as obedient.

Subject-experimenter proximity.  The experiment also shows that the closer the experimenter is to the subject, the more likely the subject is to obey the experimenter.  When the experimenter was absent, obedience dropped .

Vocabulary:

Reconciled: (to make up, get along) Teacher was reconciled with the Learner.

Confederate = accomplice

Independent variable = the one thing that changes from trial to trial.  Example:  if patients in a hospital get pill A, but do not get better, all other things staying the same, we can say that pill A did not work.  But if pill B is given, and all patients get better, all things staying the same, then pill B caused the improvement.  Pill B is in this case the independent variable.

White Collar worker = one who is considered a professional, who works in an office and wears a white shirt.

Blue Collar worker = one who is considered a worker/laborer.  This person tends to get his/her hands dirty.  He/she used to wear blue overalls.

Malevolent = having bad intentions, wishing people harm.

Note:

Mr. Neil Wallace is always the learner.

Mr. Williams is always the experimenter

Mr. Milgram is the narrator.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES VERSUS DEPENDENT VARIABLES

SEE: http://www.prenhall.com/fernald/chapter/fern4.html

Independent and Dependent Variables. The variable to be manipulated is called an independent variable because changes in it are independent of any other aspect of the experiment. It is varied in accordance with the investigator's purpose. If the aim is to discover the influence of the proximity of the learner on the obedience of the teacher, the investigator places the learner at various distances from the teacher. This factor, the distance between learner and teacher, is the independent variable (Table 2-5).

 

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

 

 DEPENDENT VARIABLES


Proximity of the learner


Amount of shock administered

Closeness of the authority

Speed of the response

Prestige of the setting

Duration of the shock

Presence of rebellious peers

 

 

 

TABLE 2-5 INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES. In one series of experiments, the proximity of the learner was selected as the independent variable. Thus, with all other potential independent variables held constant, as shown by the brackets, the learner was placed at various distances from the teacher. The purpose was to discover whether the proximity of the learner had any influence on the teacher's obedience, the dependent variables. In a subsequent experiment, a different independent variable was selected for study, such as the closeness of the authority, and then other potential independent variables were held constant or measured in diverse ways.

 


In addition to introducing an independent variable, the experimenter observes and measures the subject's response. This response is referred to as the dependent variable because it is the result of the manipulation; its presence or intensity depends on the independent variable. In most of Milgram's experiments, the dependent variable was the amount of shock the teacher administered. Instead, it might have been the teacher's speed in administering the shock or the duration of the shock.

As a rule, the independent variable is some stimulus; the dependent variable is some response. A word of caution is in order, however. In many experiments, the independent and dependent variables are more complex and cannot be so readily identified in terms of stimuli and responses.