U5A3 SP3450 - Social Psychology Unit 5 Assignment 3: The Milgram Experiment 01/22/14 Milgram Experiment A psychologist from Yale University named Stanley Milgram conducted the Milgram obedience experiment. He wanted to see the participant’s willingness to obey an authority figure while testing their moral conscience. In the experiment they were told that they would be either a “teacher” or a “learner” and would be randomly be assigned to either role. However unbeknownst to them all the slips said teacher and people aware of the study acted like they got the learner slip. The teacher was given a list of words that he read to the learner.
The study indicated labelling goes on and that the labels are used to pre-judge pupils potential. P177 Problems with this approach- Ethical-can be problems with deception. Practical getting hold of teachers and pupils, gaining access. Artificiality- tells us little about real interaction in the classroom. Field experiments- located in real settings- Rosenthal and Jacobsen- Pygmalion in the classroom focuses on labelling,
Obedience is a fundamental instinct. In Stanley Milgram’s essay, “The Perils of Obedience,” he shows his readers that adults will basically do anything they are told to and he tries to figure out why this is. In order for his experiment to be successful, the subject has to be placed in a situation where their values are in conflict with each other. The experiment has three main people in it, the “learner,” who is an actor, the “teacher,” and the instructor (106). The instructor tells the teacher that this is a memory test and if the learner misses a question then the learner will be shocked with voltages varying from 15 volts to 450 volts.
Generally two persons were participating in his experiments but only one is exposed, the Teacher. He was reading series of two words to one “learner” who was an actor. Then the teacher repeated the first word again. If the learner didn’t remember the second word the teacher has to inflict him more and
Ishmael finds the courage to participate. And finally he is confident enough to take the fight to Barry Bagsley; he can almost taste revenge for the humiliation he and others have suffered. The results are unexpected. Notes for teachers • The theme of bullying strong in the book: the name-calling, the victimisation of those who are different or less able socially are both ways that Barry Bagsley finds to belittle others. Class discussion could be based on a consideration of the characters and the different ways they deal with bullying.
Milgram put a twist on the experiment asking the age-old question of, “if the Germans during WWII were simply obeying to authority when carrying out the Holocaust or were they all acting on their own”. The test subject, or teacher, would administer electric shocks to the learner, a paid actor, when the learner incorrectly answered the word pairings. The teacher thought the learner was receiving electric shocks when in reality the learner was not receiving any shocks. An instructor, the authoritative figure, was sitting behind the teacher reassuring the teacher that the shocks may be painful but would not inflict permanent damage. Throughout the experiment, the teacher can be seen looking back towards the instructor for permission on whether to continue or stop .The teacher instructed the learner to continue even when the learner cried out in pain and begged for the experiment to stop.
Even though he begins to show signs of tension at 180 volts, the experimenter was able to convince Mr. Prozi to continue. In this instance, the teacher was concerned with his own culpability if something were to happen to the learner. “I mean, who’s going to take responsibility if anything happens to that gentleman?” Prozi questioned (697). After several reassurances from the experimenter that all responsibility for the learner’s well-being was on the experimenter, Mr. Prozi reluctantly continued with the shocks. Even after the learner refused to answer the questions or worse, showed no signs of a response to the questions or the shocks, Prozi continued with his orders.
Name: David Fletcher Class: Introduction to Psychology Day: Mon/Wed 12:30 – 3:20 Instructor: Ammeter, Tammy L Assignment: Emotion and Motivation Research Article Due Date: Wednesday, July 13, 2011 Emotion and Motivation Are the Competent Morally Good? Perspective Taking and Moral Motivation of Children Involve in Bullying Key Terms: Bully: someone uses coercion or inflicts abuse to affect others habitually creating an imbalance of power. Victim: a person who is deceived, cheated or injured by force Bully-Victim: one who displays both characteristics of the bully and the victim Pro-social behavior: behaviors carried out with the intentions to help others Perspective taking: understanding
Abstract Forming impressions of people can be biased from order effects. Those motivated to think are less susceptible to primacy effects compared to those low in motivation to think. Presented study revealed a reduced primacy effect amongst those who are motivated to think. Teachers and assessors alike, where marking exams are part of work life, should be aware of any bias impressions that can be formed of their students during exam marking. As Rosenthal & Jacobson’s (1968) famous classroom study revealed, teachers impressions of their students can affect the level of encouragement they give.
Stanley Milgram a Yale University psychologist, who does a series of social psychology experiments to measure willingness, and study how participants obey under pressure. Milgram’s experiments showed the world that an ordinary citizen will inflict pain on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist.