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Chapter 2: Problem 2

What is a confederate and why was one used in the Milgram study?

Short Answer

Expert verified
In psychological experiments, a confederate is an insider of the experiment team who pretends to be a regular participant. In the Milgram study, a confederate played the Learner, who pretended to receive shocks for wrong answers. The use of a confederate added control and believability to the study. It allowed the researchers to measure how far real participants (Teachers) were willing to obey the authority figure (Experimenter), even when they believed their actions were causing harm to others (Learner).

Step by step solution

01

Defining a Confederate

A confederate in the context of psychological experiments refers to a person who is part of the experiment team but pretends to be a participant in the experiment. They are there to perform specific actions which are intended to influence the real participant's behavior.
02

Understanding the Milgram study

The Milgram Obedience Study was a series of psychological experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram in the 1960s. These experiments intended to measure the individual's obedience to authority figures. In this study, there were three roles - the Experimenter (authority figure played by an actor), the Learner (confederate), and the Teacher (real participant).
03

Explaining the Confederate's role in the Milgram study

In the Milgram study, the role of the Learner was played by a confederate. The Learner was 'strapped' to an electric shock machine and the 'Teacher'(real participant) was instructed by the Experimenter to administer electric shocks of increasing intensity each time the Learner gave wrong answers to a set of memory questions. The Learner was not receiving real shocks but faked pain sounds, acting as if the shocks were real.
04

Justifying the use of Confederate in the Milgram study

The use of a confederate was crucial in Milgram's Study. It offered control over the experiment, ensuring the Learner's reactions were consistent for all participants. The staged shocks and reactions of the Learner aimed to analyze the Teacher's obedience under authority, even when their actions appeared to cause harm to others.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In accordance with ethnical guidelines, researchers today are compelled to instruct participants that they can withdraw from experiments at any time without incurring any penalty, Had participants, including the learner, in the Milgram study been provided with such instructions at the outset of the study, do you think this would have reduced the number of individuals who obeyed?

What factors or characteristics distinguish those individuals who gave the highest level of shock from those who didn't? For example, would personality characteristics play a role? If so, what spectfic personality characteristics might lead some individuals to go on to give the highest level of shock and others not to?
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