psy Article: Obey at Any Cost?
Research Experience Paper
Psychology 101
Arielle Mason
Professor C Maile
October 15, 2013
Article: Obey at Any Cost? Many times we are given commands or orders from a higher authority or power some of which we do not agree with or follow. This is because we use our moral values and human emotions to determine whether they were right or wrong. But there is a time where we may judge and not agree while others may not pass a judgment and be in agreement. In the study of Psychology we look to a researchers finding to prove the way we respond to emotional, environmental and societal changes. Stanley Milgram a researcher that set out on the behalf of Yale University conducted a study to determine how obedient we become when driven or motivated by authority to inflict mild to severe pain is applied. Milgram’s study creates a huge debate in ethics. The reason why this debate is still prevalent, because he wanted to show how authority when given orders to carry out a form of punishment through pain can be done. He thought that when humans are told to obey it is amazing to see how they would hurriedly obey and not acknowledge their moral standard or be empathetic to another. To prove that authority and obedience has a lot in common-- Milgram faced a great challenge. The challenge was to create a situation in a laboratory, have a neutral party to enforce the orders and inflict the pain where no one was hurt. So in order for there to be no real pain he use an electrical device with a 30-toggle switches labeled with voltage levels ranging from thirty volts to one-hundred fifty volts. The volts were grouped from slight shock with very little affect to severe shock with the most intense shock. They were artificial in the fact they gave an artificial feeling that was intensified through the exercise. The participants would resume afterwards to normal at the end of the session. Milgram conducted the experiment with forty males with age ranges
Psychology 101
Arielle Mason
Professor C Maile
October 15, 2013
Article: Obey at Any Cost? Many times we are given commands or orders from a higher authority or power some of which we do not agree with or follow. This is because we use our moral values and human emotions to determine whether they were right or wrong. But there is a time where we may judge and not agree while others may not pass a judgment and be in agreement. In the study of Psychology we look to a researchers finding to prove the way we respond to emotional, environmental and societal changes. Stanley Milgram a researcher that set out on the behalf of Yale University conducted a study to determine how obedient we become when driven or motivated by authority to inflict mild to severe pain is applied. Milgram’s study creates a huge debate in ethics. The reason why this debate is still prevalent, because he wanted to show how authority when given orders to carry out a form of punishment through pain can be done. He thought that when humans are told to obey it is amazing to see how they would hurriedly obey and not acknowledge their moral standard or be empathetic to another. To prove that authority and obedience has a lot in common-- Milgram faced a great challenge. The challenge was to create a situation in a laboratory, have a neutral party to enforce the orders and inflict the pain where no one was hurt. So in order for there to be no real pain he use an electrical device with a 30-toggle switches labeled with voltage levels ranging from thirty volts to one-hundred fifty volts. The volts were grouped from slight shock with very little affect to severe shock with the most intense shock. They were artificial in the fact they gave an artificial feeling that was intensified through the exercise. The participants would resume afterwards to normal at the end of the session. Milgram conducted the experiment with forty males with age ranges