Quote:
Originally posted by Lauren
Quote:
Originally posted by Sticks
Quote:
Originally posted by Lauren
I have studied the Milgram experiment at length and shan't go into the criticisms of it.
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Perhaps you could give a summary of the critique, possibly in another thread if need be. It was quite a disturbing study as was the experiment in Stanford which had to be abandoned.
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No problem. I'll stick to it here cos they're short and very easily explicable so don't require much thread.
With Milgram, the experiment was good cos it was scientific and operationalised, using prompts to serve as a measurable way for participants to continue.
However, the study of obedience lacked one major thing - the ability for it to be applied to the general public and the "outside World" shall we say. Oftentimes, Psychology studies/experiments are specifically conducted with the outlook to be able to apply the findings to the outside World so that we further understand human behaviour. However, this particular study - the findings can ONLY be applied to those participants who took part in the study. This is because the surroundings of the experiment were artificial, and the experimenter had manipulated variables in a way that meant whatever findings were discovered, could not have been applied to real life situations. The laboratory in which the experiment was based in also served this purpose, ensuring that whatever was discovered from the experiment couldn't be said that would happen in the real world. In short, the experiment lacked ecological validity.
Secondly, and perhaps most importantly - we can explain the behaviour of the participants using another extraneous variable. That is, demand characteristics. What this means is that participants were fully aware they were taking part in an experiment and so adjusted their behaviour to fit in with what they thought may be asking of them to do. For example, cues in the environment and the study suggested that the experiment was looking at authority/obedience, and so they adjusted their behaviour in order to make "findings" with what they found appropriate. The thing this study lacked, is that it could not categorically state that in real life, under the same pressures/cues, that a human would act the same. Henceforth, we again cannot apply the findings to the general population OR this case that you have posted Sticks.
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Well done Lauren
exactly this was an experimental situation and its likely they would have had in the back of their mind that they wouldnt seriously harm anyone surely! aswell as doing what they thought was expected of them etc. I dont think it can be applied to real life. The Zimbardo study could be to an extent people taking on roles and what not, but I dont really see how that was happening here I mean what was the spanking all about? That isnt anything that normally happens when police conduct their enquiries haha, they could maybe get away with a strip search but flippin heck this cant be real!