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Milgram experiment
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==Procedure== [[File:Milgram Experiment advertising.png|250px|thumb|Milgram experiment advertisement, 1961. The US $4 advertised is {{Inflation|index=US|value=4|start_year=1961|fmt=eq}}.|alt=]] Three individuals took part in each session of the experiment: * The "experimenter", who was in charge of the session. * The "teacher", who was a volunteer for a single session. The "teachers" were led to believe that they were merely assisting, whereas they were actually the subjects of the experiment. * The "learner", an actor and confederate of the experimenter, who pretended to be a volunteer. The subject and the actor arrived at the session together. The experimenter told them that they were taking part in "a scientific study of memory and learning", to see what the effect of punishment is on a subject's ability to memorize content. Also, he always clarified that the payment for their participation in the experiment was secured regardless of its development. The subject and actor drew slips of paper to determine their roles. Unknown to the subject, both slips said "teacher". The actor would always claim to have drawn the slip that read "learner", thus guaranteeing that the subject would always be the "teacher". Next, the teacher and learner were taken into an adjacent room where the learner was strapped into what appeared to be an electric chair. The experimenter, dressed in a lab coat in order to appear to have more authority, told the participants this was to ensure that the learner would not escape.<ref name="ObedStudy" /> In a later variation of the experiment, the confederate would eventually plead for mercy and yell that he had a [[heart condition]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Romm |first1=Cari |title=Rethinking One of Psychology's Most Infamous Experiments |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/rethinking-one-of-psychologys-most-infamous-experiments/384913/ |website=theatlantic.com |publisher=The Atlantic |access-date=14 October 2019 |date=28 January 2015 |quote=In the 1960s, Stanley Milgram's electric-shock studies showed that people will obey even the most abhorrent of orders. But recently, researchers have begun to question his conclusions—and offer some of their own. |archive-date=October 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014194237/https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/rethinking-one-of-psychologys-most-infamous-experiments/384913/ |url-status=live }}</ref> At some point prior to the actual test, the teacher was given a sample [[electric shock]] from the electroshock generator in order to experience firsthand what the shock that the learner would supposedly receive during the experiment would feel like. The teacher and learner were then separated so that they could communicate, but not see each other. The teacher was then given a list of word pairs that he was to teach the learner. The teacher began by reading the list of word pairs to the learner. The teacher would then read the first word of each pair and read four possible answers. The learner would press a button to indicate his response. If the answer was incorrect, the teacher would administer a shock to the learner, with the voltage increasing in 15-[[volt]] increments for each wrong answer (if correct, the teacher would read the next word pair).<ref name=ObedStudy/> The volts ranged from 15 to 450. The shock generator included verbal markings that vary from "Slight Shock" to "Danger: Severe Shock". The subjects believed that for each wrong answer the learner was receiving actual shocks. In reality, there were no shocks. After the learner was separated from the teacher, the learner set up a tape recorder integrated with the electroshock generator, which played previously recorded sounds for each shock level. As the voltage of the fake shocks increased, the learner began making audible protests, such as banging repeatedly on the wall that separated him from the teacher. In every condition the learner makes/says a predetermined sound or word. When the highest voltages were reached, the learner fell silent.<ref name=ObedStudy/> If at any time the teacher indicated a desire to halt the experiment, the experimenter was instructed to give specific verbal prods. The prods were, in this order:<ref name=ObedStudy/> # Please continue ''or'' Please go on. # The experiment requires that you continue. # It is absolutely essential that you continue. # You have no other choice; you {{em|must}} go on. Prod 2 could only be used if prod 1 was unsuccessful. If the subject still wished to stop after all four successive verbal prods, the experiment was halted. Otherwise, the experiment was halted after the subject had elicited the maximum 450-volt shock three times in succession.<ref name=ObedStudy/> The experimenter also had prods to use if the teacher made specific comments. If the teacher asked whether the learner might suffer permanent physical harm, the experimenter replied, "Although the shocks may be painful, there is no permanent tissue damage, so please go on." If the teacher said that the learner clearly wants to stop, the experimenter replied, "Whether the learner likes it or not, you must go on until he has learned all the word pairs correctly, so please go on."<ref name="ObedStudy" />
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