Comments on: Episode 97: Stanley Milgram Obedience Study Finally Replicated

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 04:12:20 +0000

I’ve read the article (Some Conditions of Obedience and Disobedience to Authority), and to me it looks like Milgram explained to subjects the real purpose, and told them that the learner didn’t receive shocks, before they left the lab. That is, they were debriefed right after the experiment. In my copy of the article, on page 58 of 57-76, there’s a lengthy footnote that describes the post-experimental treatment. If this is true, the man who talked to his electrician would have no need to do so. What happened?

Great podcast, by the way.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 21:24:13 +0000

Being in a lab helps you to control things like background noise, interruptions, distractions, etc. Also, you can be sure that all the subjects experienced the exact same environment in the study.

By: Arsalan Hameed

Arsalan Hameed — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:48:36 +0000

how did being in a laboratory help the experimenter to control variables in milgrams study ?

By: Nahyan

Nahyan — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:12:53 +0000

Thanks for the response Professor.
I’m going to ask a few psych profs at university and check this. Because I know online education and gaining people’s attention needs a different approach than in-person, but need evidence to back it up.

If anything interest I’ll leave it in the comments or drop you an email to get further insight.

Thank you.

By: Michael

Michael — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:22:10 +0000

Nahyan: I never thought of applying Milgram’s findings. Interesting idea. I would think that you’ve got a point there. For online courses in particular, the instructor may never be seen by the student. I would guess that this fact does decrease the amount of influence an instructor can have on students – which is why everyone says that taking an online course really requires a lot of self-motivation since you don’t have to tell the instructor face-to-face that you didn’t do your work for the day. Interesting connection.

By: Nahyan

Nahyan — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 17:50:30 +0000

Great podcast.
I didn’t know Milgram replicated the study with changes to experimenter’s proximity. That’s actually very interesting to note that the responses differed dramatically when experimenter wasn’t physically present as well as the social element.

The results of the replication was interesting nonetheless, even with the changes the general fact on obedience to authority remains.

Thanks for the slides, it was really helpful to follow along and go back to.

1 question: would this apply to how learning and influence occurs today, since people learn via the internet and not as much face-to-face? Does it significantly decrease the amount of influence and level of learning a person can have on another?

Thank you

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:28:14 +0000

Good question Malerie. There’s a good bit of controversy over this. I think it’s best to call Milgram’s early study a “laboratory observation”. In later studies he did manipulate whether or not the experimenter was in the same room as the “learner” and he manipulated the number of people who sat with the “learner” while he gave out the questions and the answers, and these could be called experiments. But none of these would be called correlational studies.

By: Malerie

Malerie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:42:12 +0000

What kind of experiment was Milgram’s study of obedience to authority? Was it a formal experiment or correlational method?

By: Milgram, Rape & Silence -- a Nadder!

Milgram, Rape & Silence -- a Nadder! — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 07:27:32 +0000

[...] It seems hard to believe that most people would follow the authority of the experimental setup to the end (where the “student” appears unconscious or dead). Studies show that when people are told about the Milgram experiment results, most believe they would have acted differently. Of course, all this shows is how poor we are at self-assessment — at least for certain aspects of our behaviour. Whether we like it or not, Milgram’s results are very solid and were replicated about 6 months ago (more here). [...]