PS270 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Stanley Milgram, Social Influence, Bort
Document Summary
Changes in behaviour produced by commands of an authority. Worked with asch as a graduate student but wanted to examine social influence situations that were more consequential. Participants believed they were taking part in a study on punishment and learning. Procedure required the participant to administer shocks to a learner each time an error was made. Each subsequent error required the shock to increase by 15 volts all the way up to 450 volts. In reality, the learner was not being shocked. The goal was to see if people followed the experimenter"s instructions and administered shocks even at dangerous levels. It is absolutely essential that you continue . You have no other choice; you must go on . If participants went to 150 volts, the vast majority (79%) continued to the maximum. No gender differences observed in level of obedience. Milgram"s basic findings have been replicated in several different countries and among different age groups.
