Hockenbury Discovering Psychology 5th txtbk

Obedience479Table 11.4The Results of Milgram’s Original StudyNumber of SubjectsWho Refused toSwitch Labels and Administer a HigherShock Level Voltage Levels Voltage LevelSlight Shock1 152 303 454 60Moderate Shock5 756 907 1058 1209 13510 15011 16512 180Very Strong Shock13 19514 21015 22516 240Intense Shock17 25518 27019 28520 300Extreme Intensity Shock21 315 522 33023 345 424 360 2Danger: Severe Shock 125 375 126 39027 405 128 420XXX29 43530 450 26Contrary to what psychiatrists, collegestudents, and middle-class adults predicted,the majority of Milgram’s subjects did notrefuse to obey by the 150-volt level ofshock. As this table shows, 14 of Milgram’s40 subjects (35 percent) refused to continueat some point after administering300 volts to the learner. However, 26 of the40 subjects (65 percent) remained obedientto the very end, administering the full 450volts to the learner.Source: Milgram (1974a).In describing the reaction of one subject, Milgram (1963) wrote, “I observed a matureand initially poised businessman enter the laboratory smiling and confident.Within 20 minutes he was reduced to a twitching, stuttering wreck, who was rapidlyapproaching a point of nervous collapse.”Making Sense of Milgram’s FindingsMultiple InfluencesMilgram, along with other researchers, identified several aspects of the experimentalsituation that had a strong impact on the subjects (see Blass, 1992, 2000; Milgram,1965). Here are some of the forces that influenced subjects to continue obeying theexperimenter’s orders:• A previously well-established mental framework to obey. Having volunteered toparticipate in a psychology experiment, Milgram’s subjects arrived at the lab withthe mental expectation that they would obediently follow the directions of theperson in charge—the experimenter. They also accepted compensation on their