Milgram Experiment

Social influence is defined as individual mental process (conviction, perception, thought, reaction) and behaviour are being changed in a social group interaction Milgram's experiment is to study the effect of obedience to authority. Study was performed to determine what factors influenced people to submit to authority and to what extent people conform an order against their conscience despite knowing it causes distress and harm to another person. McLeod, S. (1970). 40 male participants between age of 20 to 50 years old from various occupation ranging from unskilled to professional were recruited for the experiment. They were rewarded $4.50 for participating. McLeod, S. (1970) and being told that the experiment was to study the effect of punishment on learning
As the process was rigged, they all ends up being teacher and the learner is the confederate. (Meyer 97; Wortman, Loftus and Weaver 608-9; Franzoi 297). Before the experiment start, the participant (teacher) was being given a 45-volt shock to let them relate to what the learner will be experiencing and to make them believe that the generator is authentic. (Franzoi 297; Meyer 98; Wortman, Loftus and Weaver 608-9). The learner is in one room, the teacher and the experimenter (wearing a lab coat) are in another room. The teacher teaches the learner a list of word pairs and the learner was supposed to memorise the word pairs. The teacher tests the learner by saying out the first word of the pair. The learner was to pair the word from four possible choices by pressing a button to indicate his response. The learner on deliberately give out the wrong answer each time and when each question is answer incorrectly, the participant will need to administer shock to the learner from a shock generator which has thirty marked switches ranging from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 volts (danger - severe shock). The level of shock increment by 15 volts each time