Transcript When the Tail Wags the Dog: Perceptions of Learning and

Milgram’s Baseline Procedure
Milgram’s Baseline Procedure
• 63% shock to the limit (STL)
Questions From Milgram’s Paradigm (1)
• Is blind obedience to authority a distinctly
American characteristic?
• Did the ‘teacher’ enjoy shocking the ‘learner?’
• Does the status of the authority figure affect
obedience?
Questions From Milgram’s Paradigm (2)
• Does the personality of the victim affect
obedience?
• Are the personalities of the maximally obedient
and maximally rebellious subjects different?
• How would a moral person respond in
Milgram’s study?
Questions From Milgram’s Paradigm (3)
• Were Milgram’s results predictable?
• Why are Milgram’s results surprising?
• A naive belief in the relationship of morality to
behavior
Ethical Criticisms of Milgram’s Work
• No true informed consent
• Participants experienced
significant stress
• Long-term negative effects on
self-worth
Milgram’s Response To Ethical Criticism
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Extensive debriefing
After session discovered learner was not harmed
Participants were free to leave
No evidence of permanent psychological harm
Follow-up of Milgram’s Participants
• 80% reported that they were “Very Glad” or “Glad”
they participated.
• 15% had “No Strong Feelings”
• Just over 1% were “Sorry” or “Very Sorry”
• 80% said more research of this kind should be done.
• 74% said they learned something of lasting value.
A Question Mark: The Cost of Ethics?
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Joshua at Jericho
Salem Witch Trials
• In 1692, 20 were executed in Massachusetts
Turkish-Armenian Genocide
• 1.5 million of 2.5 million Armenians in Turkey were
exterminated between 1915 and 1923.
• "Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the
Armenians?"
Holocaust
• Six million Jews (67% of Europe’s population)
were exterminated
• Others: Roma, mentally retarded, mentally
disturbed, 3 million Soviet POWs, homosexuals,
Jehovah’s Witnesses, Communists, Socialists
Cambodia: Killing Fields
• Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge kill 1.7
million (21% of population)
Rwanda
• In 1994, within 100 days 800,000 Tutsis and
moderate Hutus are exterminated
Kosovo: Ethnic Cleansing
How To Get Good Men and Women To
Murder Their Neighbors
• Get them to say:
• I hate or
• I would never