. Participants were told shocks were not harmful and the scientific gains were important
What the study tell us about obedience/behaviour & implications?
. The most important finding was that people will follow instructions of an authority figure even though it means it'll harm another person
People can be instructed to carry out atrocities and they will be likely to carry these through if it's given by a legitimate figure so the acts of genocides we have witnessed
With the power of an authority figure, it allows us to transfer responsibility for our actions to that person.
Ethics
Strengths
. Study was a controlled experiment with a standardised procedure and controls of extraneous variables, E.g. Mr Wallace's reactions to the shocks were taped and the authority figure responded in a set way at each new prompt
The study was ground-breaking work in this field and generalise able to real life as it shows us how people respond obediently to an authoritative figure
. The location was at Yale uni so seemed genuine . Participants assumed the experimenter knew what he was doing so followed instructions . Believed the learner voluntarily consented to take part so the situation was 'fair' . Participant's obligation to take part was reinforced as they got paid
Weaknesses
Participants were paid $4.50 so they could've only done the experiment because of this and demand characteristics could have affected it.
Study lacks ecological validity as it took place in a lab with high controls
Participant's were deceived in thinking that the study was about memory and not obedience. Also deceived in thinking the electric shocks were real
. All male so androcentric
The end
Participants had the right to withdraw (even though it wasn't obvious)
The prods given during study suggested right to withdraw wasn't allowed
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