Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site uwmacc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!whuxl!whuxlm!akgua!mcnc!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!uwvax!uwmacc!rick From: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (the absurdist) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: Milgram's Experiments on Obedience Message-ID: <823@uwmacc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 22-Mar-85 23:37:01 EST Article-I.D.: uwmacc.823 Posted: Fri Mar 22 23:37:01 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 26-Mar-85 06:20:26 EST References: <210@zaphod.UUCP> Reply-To: rick@uwmacc.UUCP (Rick Keir) Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center Lines: 33 In article <210@zaphod.UUCP> bobd@zaphod.UUCP (Bob Dalgleish) writes: >Millikan is most famous for his experiment in torture: he showed that 9 >people out of 10 (or some such) would apply dangerous levels of voltage >to a subject (shill) when the experimenter and/or other shills applied >social pressure. This is the one quoted in intro psych classes. The psychologist was Stanley Milgram. His experiments were not on "torture" -- they were on obedience to authority. There was no evidence that the subjects were experiencing any pleasure from shocking the person (who was out of sight, and was in fact a tape recorder). Nor was the person pushing the button doing it to get anything from the shockee. They were told that the other person had agreed to be in a learning experiment where they would be shocked for incorrect answers. "Torture" seems to indicate something else. The people ADMINISTERING the shock showed great signs of stress and unhappiness, but as long as the experimenter kept saying things like "you have agreed to participate, and you must continue" they tended to go along -- not realizing that they had the right to quit at any time. These experiments are frightening in what they tell us about "normal" people. They have been repeated in a variety of settings, and are easy to replicate. Recommended readings: "Obedience to Authority" by Stanley Milgram, and lest we forget "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis "The Terrible Secret" by Walter Laqueur. [ My, aren't we getting serious.... ] -- "I'm the only President you've got" -- Lyndon Johnson Rick Keir -- MicroComputer Information Center, MACC 1210 West Dayton St/U Wisconsin Madison/Mad WI 53706 {allegra, ihnp4, seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!rick