electric scream machine image
latasha
Answer
His most famous study was one that measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. He came up with the idea of the experiment based on the reasons that Nazi soldiers gave for why they carried out the commands that their superiors gave to them.
Basically the experiment was set up in two rooms. In one room you had the participant/subject (the one being studied) and the scientist(the authority figure). In the other room you had another 'participant' (who was actually an actor in on the experiment) who was hooked up to a machine that would administer an electric shock. The Scientist and the subject could not see the actor in the other room but they could hear him. The scientist would ask the actor questions and when the actor answered incorrectly the scientist instructed the subject to shock the actor. With each wrong question the voltage increased and the actor's reaction increase from saying "ouch" to screaming and then eventually no noise at all (implying that the subject had killed the actor). The Scientist (the person of authority) kept encouraging the subject to continue even as the actor's reactions became more severe.
I'm not sure of the exact numbers but it was close to all of the subjects administered the full amount of shock. It proved that when put in a situation with someone of authority a typical person will submit to the demands of the person of authority or perceived higher knowledge.
Hope that helps!
His most famous study was one that measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. He came up with the idea of the experiment based on the reasons that Nazi soldiers gave for why they carried out the commands that their superiors gave to them.
Basically the experiment was set up in two rooms. In one room you had the participant/subject (the one being studied) and the scientist(the authority figure). In the other room you had another 'participant' (who was actually an actor in on the experiment) who was hooked up to a machine that would administer an electric shock. The Scientist and the subject could not see the actor in the other room but they could hear him. The scientist would ask the actor questions and when the actor answered incorrectly the scientist instructed the subject to shock the actor. With each wrong question the voltage increased and the actor's reaction increase from saying "ouch" to screaming and then eventually no noise at all (implying that the subject had killed the actor). The Scientist (the person of authority) kept encouraging the subject to continue even as the actor's reactions became more severe.
I'm not sure of the exact numbers but it was close to all of the subjects administered the full amount of shock. It proved that when put in a situation with someone of authority a typical person will submit to the demands of the person of authority or perceived higher knowledge.
Hope that helps!
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