The Milgram Experiment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Milgram Experiment - Research Paper Example This research paper will concentrate on discussing the Milgram experiment, the method used in this experiment and the results of the experiment. Literature review Most people would answer no, when ordered by a person in authority to deliver an electrical shock of 400-volts to another person, but Stanley Milgram conducted obedience experiments that showed results which were surprising. Experiments like this offer a disturbing and powerful look in the power of obedience and authority. Shortly after the trial of Adolph Eichmann had begun who was a World War II criminal Milgram started his experiments. Adolph Eichmann’s defense roused Milgram’s interest when he said he was following instructions when he ordered millions of Jews to be killed. "Could it be true that Eichmann and his were just following orders accomplices during the Holocaust? Could we call them all accomplices?" (Milgram, 1974); this is the question Milgram posed in his book Obedience to Authority. The Milgra m Experiment method The Milgram experiment involved 40 participants who were men who were recruited in for exchange for $4.50 due to their participation. In this experiment, Milgram had to develop a shock generator that was intimidating. This shock generator had shock levels that started at 30-volts and had an increment of 15-volt up to 450-volts. Switches had terms labeled slight shock, moderate shock, severe shock and finally two switches that were labeled XXX. Each of the participants took the role of a teacher delivering a shock to a student each time there was a production of an incorrect answer. Participants in this case thought that they delivered ideal shocks to the respective student, while actually the student in the experiment was pretending to get a shock. The participant heard the learner plead for a release or complain of a heart condition as the experiment progressed. After reaching the 300-volts level, the learner had a demand to be released and banged on the wall. T he learner refused to answer and remained silent, refusing to answer more questions. Milgram, who was the experimenter, then gave instructions to the participant to deliver another shock when there is silence treating silence as a response that is incorrect. Most of these participants asked Milgram whether to continue delivering these shocks. Then Milgram issued a series of commands to determine what the participant would follow his orders. Milgram first commanded the participant to continue delivering shocks; he then commanded them that the experiment required that they continue delivering shocks. He then commanded them that it was essential that they continued delivering these shocks. Finally, he commanded them that they had no other choice but to continue delivering those shocks. In his book Obedience to Authority Milgram quotes that social psychology reveals a lesson that not what kind of person a man is, but the kind of a situation in which he can be, that determine the action of a person, (Milgram, 1974). Milgram Experiment results The measure of obedience was determined by the levels of shock that participants were willing to subject to the learner. Milgram once posed a question to a group of students at Yale University as to how far they thought most participants were willing to go. The prediction was that not more than 3 percent of the participan