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Milgram Experiment

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Although the results of Milgram’s experiment astonished much of the psychological world, the reliability of the experiment is often questioned due to unethically perceived procedures of the study. In Milgram’s famous study researching the implications of authority figures on obedience, subjects of the experiment were deceived into thinking that they were the “teachers” of an experiment testing how a stimulus could affect learning; these teachers were instructed to shock the learner, which was actually a confederate in the study, after they incorrectly answered a question, and throughout the experiment the shock intensity would increase for every wrong answer. Throughout the study, the subjects would hear prerecorded screams, cries, and begs …show more content…
One ethical issue with Milgram’s experiment is that the nature of the experiment caused many subjects to experience clear distress and discomfort during the process, and the effects of the experiment had the potential to be harmful in the future. This ethical issue violates the federal guidelines for human subject research, in which the guidelines state that an ethical experiment is one in which “risks to subjects are minimized” by “using procedures which are consistent with sound research design and which do not unnecessarily expose subjects to risks” (Basic HHS Policy for Protection of Human Research Subjects, 1991). Milgram himself reported the emotional disturbances that his subjects experienced, explaining how the “mature” and “poised” businessman that started the experiment were “reduced to a twitching, stuttering wreck […who…] was rapidly approaching a point of nervous collapse” (Baumrind, 1964). Milgram also mentions that many of the subjects requested to stop the experiment, yet continued to go on even through “nervous laughing fits” and seizures in some cases (Baumrind, 1964). So even if two-thirds of the participants of the experiment emphasized the idea that authority figures influence obedience, many are still skeptical because the study clearly violates ethical guidelines that prohibit …show more content…
A method that could test this hypothesis is a replication of Milgram’s experiment; however, this replication would have alterations to ensure that participants do not experience unnecessary risks. The methodology of this process would begin with screening the potential participants so that certain individuals who could have a negative reaction to the experience would be excluded before the experiment even started (Burger, 2009). Screening potential participants before the experiments even begin allows for the experimenter to reduce the possibility of unnecessary risk, and the study complies with the specific guideline that human research minimizes subject risk to those who were diagnosed not to be put at risk (Basic HHS Policy for Protection of Human Research Subjects, 1991). In addition to screening subjects before to exclude potential subjects that could be put at risk, a replication of Milgram’s experiment to test the hypothesis would also need to inform participants multiple times, both in writing and through conversation, that at any point in the experiment they could withdraw and still receive the money they were promised for participating in the study (Burger, 2009). In this case, the anticipated benefits of the experiment are given to the subject no matter what, which complies with the guideline

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