Discussion III

Stanley Milgram’s study of obedience reminded me a lot of the Stanford prison experiment, a lot of what happened during that experiment was present in this study. In the evaluation of the study it was stated that participants were deceived as to the exact nature of the study for which they had volunteered, and by making them believe they were administering real electric shocks to a real participant (Milgram, 1963). One could look at this and see something unethical about Milgram’s method of informing interested participants of the study. However, I think he may have done this to help point out that our minds and how we assess information determine what may feel real to a person or not. Just think of a person holding gun aiming it the desired target; do you think the person with the gun aimed at him will risk being shot regardless of the gun being loaded or not. A person’s mind creates it’s on truth. After the experiment had been done, Milgram fully explained the study in full detail and assessed the participants to see how the study affected them. Milgram’s methods may have been unorthodox, but what he aimed for was genius, and I don’t believe the study was unethical.  References:  Milgram. S (1963) Behavioural Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371-78.