Levels of obedience shown when participants were told by an authority figure to give another person an electric shock.

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Aim: Levels of obedience shown when participants were told by an authority figure to give another person an electric shock.

Method: Quasi Experiment.

Sample: 40 males, aged 20-50, from New Haven USA, range of occupations

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How sample was selected: Newspaper ads and direct mailing. Told they would be paid and would do memory test.

Brief procedure: Carried out at Yale. Volunteer and confederate in waiting room. Experimenter asks them to draw straws, rigged so volunteer always teacher. Volunteer told the other person (learner) is to learn word pairs. The teacher reads out word and four options and learner must say which option matches the first word. If they get it wrong teacher must give them electric shock. Shocks go up in 15V intervals and are increased with each wrong answer. Experimenter would prod ...

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