The Milgram Experiment
The Milgram Experiment
The Milgram Experiment was a series of social psychology
experiments conducted in the early 1960s by Yale University
psychologist Stanley Milgram.
The experiments began just 3 months after the start of the trial
of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann, and were designed to
answer the question:
Could it be that Eichmann and his million
accomplices in the Holocaust were just following
orders?
The Method of the Experiment
Subjects
were recruited for the Yale study through newspaper
ads and by direct mail. The experiments took place in two
rooms in the basement of a university building. The
experiment was advertised as lasting one hour, for which the
respondents would be paid $4.50 whether they completed the
task or not.
The
participants were men between the ages of 20 and 50,
from all educational backgrounds, ranging from an elementary
school dropout to participants with doctoral degrees.
The Method of the Experiment

The role of the experimenter was played by a very stern
biology teacher dressed in a white technician’s coat.

Participants arrived to meet the experimenter, as well as
another “volunteer” for the experiment.
This “volunteer” was in fact an actor trained to play the
part.

The true volunteer and the other “volunteer” were told by
the experimenter that they would be participating in an
experiment to test the effects of punishment on learning.
The Method of the Experiment

A slip of paper was then give to each of them. The true volunteer was
led to believe that one slip said “Learner” and the other said “Teacher”,
and that both participants had been given the slip randomly.

In fact, both slips said “Teacher”, but the actor claimed to have the slip
that said “Learner”, thus guaranteeing that the participant was the
“Teacher”.

At this point, the newly-appointed Teacher
and Learner were separated into different
rooms where they could communicate verbally
but not see each other. (In one version of the
experiment, the Learner was sure to mention
casually to the Teacher that he had a heart condition.)
The Method of the Experiment

To begin, the Teacher was given
a sample 45-volt shock from an
electro-shock generator by the
Experimenter. The reason for
this was to demonstrate to the
Teacher the nature of the shock
that the Learner would
supposedly receive during the
experiment each time he gave a
wrong answer.
The Method of the Experiment
The
shock generator that the
Teacher was told to operate had 30
switches in 15 volt increments,
each switch was labeled with a
voltage ranging from 15 up to 450
volts.
Each
switch also had a rating,
ranging from Slight shock to
Danger: Severe shock. The final
two switches being labeled XXX.
The Method of the Experiment
The
subjects of the experiment (ie. the “Teachers”) believed that for each
wrong answer, the Learner would receive actual shocks. In reality, there
were no shocks.
After
the Learner was separated from the Teacher, the Learner set up a
tape recorder integrated with the electro-shock generator, which played
pre-recorded sounds for each shock level.
The Method of the Experiment
The
Teacher was then given a list of
word pairs, which he was to teach to
the Learner. The Teacher began by
reading the list of words pairs to the
Learner. The Teacher would then
read the first word of each pair, and
then read four possible answers. The
Learner would press a button to
indicate his response. If the Learner
was correct, the Teacher would
proceed to the next word pair. If the
answer was incorrect, the learner
would receive a shock, with the
voltage increasing with each wrong
answer.
The Method of the Experiment
At
75 volts the learner would begin
to grunt with pain. At 120 he would
start to shout that the shocks were
becoming painful. At 150 he would
cry out that he had enough of the
experiment. His protestations would
turn to agonised screams at 270 volts.
At
300 he would shout in desperation
that he would no longer provide
answers (the experimenter would
inform the teacher that no answer
was a wrong answer). Beyond 315
volts the learner was silent.
The Method of the Experiment
At
this point, many people indicated their desire to stop the experiment
and check on the Learner. Some test subjects paused at 135 volts and
began to question the purpose of the experiment.
Most
continued after being assured that they would not be held
responsible. A few subjects began to laugh nervously or exhibit other signs
of extreme stress once they heard the screams of pain coming from the
Learner.
The Method of the Experiment

If at any time the subject
indicated his desire to halt the
experiment, he was given a
succession of verbal prods by
the experimenter, in this order:
 Please continue.
 The experiment requires that
you continue.
 It is absolutely essential that
you continue.
 You have no other choice –
you must go on.
The Method of the Experiment
If
the subject still wished to stop
after all four successive verbal
prods, the experiment was halted.
Otherwise, it was halted after the
subject had given the maximum
450-volt shock three times in
succession.
Predictions…
Before
the experiment was conducted, Milgram polled 14 Yale senior
psychology majors as to what the results would be. All respondents
believed that only a sadistic few (average 1.2%) would be prepared to give
the maximum voltage.
Milgram
also informally polled his colleagues, and found that they believed
very few subjects would go beyond a very strong shock.
Results…
Milgram’s first set of experiments, 65% (26 out of 40) of
experimental participants administered the experiment’s final 450-volt
shock, though many were quite uncomfortable doing so.
In
Everyone paused at some point and questioned the experiment, with
some even saying that they would return the cheque for the money
they were paid.
No participant steadfastly refused to give further shocks
before the 300-volt level.
Similar experiments all around the world produced similar results.
Ethics
Milgram’s
experiment raised many questions about the ethics of scientific
experimentation because of the extreme emotional stress suffered by the
participants.
In
Milgram’s defense, 84% of former participants surveyed later said they
were “glad” or “very glad” to have participated, and 15% chose neutral
(92% of participants responded).
However,
many people still looked at the experiment with great concern
about its ethical integrity.
What do you think?
Milgram’s Experiment