Behavioral Study Of Obedience By Stanley Milgram - 1313 Words

The twentieth century marked the beginning of rapid industrialization and innovation that allowed for exponential growth in society and science, psychology, in particular. This shift meant that there was modern technology and a better scientific understanding of life. The ideas of John Locke, George Berkeley, and Wilhelm Wundt emphasized the importance of consciousness, however, the materialistic overtone of this time brought new debates about the possibility of understanding the â€Å"subjective† in behavioral terms. Psychologists at the time went back to the mechanistic ideas of Julian Offay LaMettrie in order to find a new way to understand behavior. Animal psychology, a new understanding of physiology, and a search for new methods away†¦show more content†¦Stanley Milgram wanted to test subject’s readiness to obey authority without question, no matter what inhumane acts the authority commands. The subjects in the study were gathered by a newspaper adve rtisement that requested volunteers for an experiment to study the effect of punishment on learning, if chosen they would be compensated $4.50 for their participation. Forty males between the ages of 25 and 50 were selected with varying occupations and education levels. The experiment was conducted in the interaction laboratory at Yale University. The role of the experimenter was played by a 31 year old high school biology teacher who wore a gray technician’s coat and was aware of the true objective of the study. One naà ¯ve subject and one victim, an accomplice, performed in each experiment. The cover story, the effect of punishment on learning, was used to justify the administration of electric shock by the naà ¯ve subject. The naà ¯ve subjects were told that the experiment was going to test the effect different people have on each other as teachers and learners, and what effect punishment will have on learning in the controlled situation. The experimenter had the participants draw slips out of a hat to decide if they were going to be designated as a teacher or as a learner. This drawing was engineered so that a naà ¯ve subject was always the teacher and an accomplice was always the learner. Immediately after the drawing, the teacher and