Milgram and My Lai - 599 Words

The Milgram experiment is one of the most controversial psychology experiments of the past century. I was familiar with it prior to accessing the simulation on the elearning site from an ABC television Four Corners episode on the nature of torture. So when I participated in the simulation, I stopped administering the shock at the first sign of distress from the subject at thirty watts. If I was in the actual Milgram experiment I would like to believe that I would have behaved in the same way. Human nature dictates that we believe that only abnormal people are capable of sinister behavior. This belief that internal attributions cause certain behaviours assures us of some stability and security in our day-to-day lives and yet the†¦show more content†¦ns (9th ed.) Belmont, CA:Show MoreRelatedEssay on Comparative Analysis of A Few Good Men1371 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Code Red†. The question of why people follow any order given has attracted much speculation fro m the world of psychology. Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, conducted an experiment in which randomly selected students were asked to deliver â€Å"shocks† to an unknown subject when he or she answered a question wrong. In his article, â€Å"The Perils of Obedience†, Milgram concludes anyone will follow an order with the proviso that it is given by an authoritative figure. Two more psychologists that haveRead MoreObedience At All Costs Essay1376 Words   |  6 Pagessubjects being told to electrocute other people by an authority figure and observing what occurred. Another article â€Å"The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience† by Herbert Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton discusses soldiers who follow orders unconditionally. Kelman and Hamilton discuss the case of soldier, Lieutenant Calley with his court case concerning the massacre at My Lai during the Vietnam War. Questions are raised constantly about why someone would follow orders that are against his ownRead MoreDeliberating Experiments on Obedience Essay1165 Words   |  5 PagesIn 1963 Stanley Milgram, a Yale psychologist, created an experiment examining obedience. This experiment has been questioned by many psychology professionals. One psychologist Diana Baumrind transcribes her beliefs in the â€Å"Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience.† Baumrind, when writing the review, was employed at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. In her review Baumrind denounces Milgram for his treatment of his subjects, potentially harming theirRead MoreAnalysis Of The Perils Of Obedience By Stanley Milgram1489 Words   |  6 PagesObedience† Stanley Milgram writes about a controversial experiment in which he requests volunteers to assist him in shocking participants who answer incorrectly to certain questions on the opposite side of a wall. The shock that the volunteers believe they are administering could cause great h arm or even be deadly to the participants. After Milgram conducts the experiment, he concludes that normal people are capable of afflicting pain onto others, if informed by an authoritative figure (Milgram 88). In â€Å"TheRead MoreEssay on The Milgram Experiment1572 Words   |  7 PagesThe Milgram Experiment (Hart) Stanley Milgram’s experiment in the way people respond to obedience is one of the most important experiments ever administered. The goal of Milgram’s experiment was to find the desire of the participants to shock a learner in a controlled situation. When the volunteer would be ordered to shock the wrong answers of the victims, Milgram was truly judging and studying how people respond to authority. Milgram discovered something both troubling and awe inspiring about theRead MoreEssay on Stanley Milgram1913 Words   |  8 Pages This quote, by Stanley Milgram (1974, p. 205), exemplifies the debate that exists around the topic of obedience. Obedient behaviours have been studied in Milgram’s famous obedience experiments, and evidence of atrocities being carried out as a result of obedience can be seen in situations such as the holocaust in World War Two (Mastroianni, 2000) and more recent events such as (My Lai). This essay will explain both sides of the debate, arguing for situation and individual factors that influenceRead MoreBlind Obedience2109 Words   |  9 Pagesinhumane human beings can be when following authority. Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted one of the most controversial experiments in history, in attempt to demonstrate how individuals can lose themselves to an authority figure. Milgram’s experiment was called â€Å"Obedience to Authority.†    Theodore Dalrymple wrote an article titled, â€Å"Just do What the Pilot Tells You,† and in this article he said that Milgram â€Å"asked ordinary people to come to the psychology laboratoriesRead More3.1 Introduction This chapter reviews current literature. The original psychological, behavioural2000 Words   |  8 Pagesbe information cascade, where individuals witness the actions of others and follow their behaviour regardless of what information they have. Consequently, rational conformity and information cascade is a herd behaviour, which is supported by Hu and Lai, (2013), examples of information cascades include fashion trends. Song et al. (2012) state that irrational conformity is a behaviour guided by instinct and intuition as a result of the object and, therefore, a herd behaviour, once again opposing previousRead MoreSocial Psychology2623 Words   |  11 Pagesamp; Hogg, 2008), where the participants transfer their â€Å"personal responsibilities to the person giving orders†. Meaning, the participants blamed the person giving orders for making them harm the other participants in the experiment. According to Milgram (1974), â€Å"The essence of obedience consists in the fact that a person comes to view himself as the instrument for carrying out another persons wishes, and he therefore no longer sees himself as responsible for his actions. Once this critical shiftRead MoreFight Club Conformity Analysis1695 Words   |  7 Pagessecond) rule of Project Mayhem is â€Å"you do not ask questions,† not a single member can question the tasks they are given, and therefore are forced to conform to Tyler’s (or for the sake of making sense, the Narrator’s) wishes. Like the Milgram experiments and the My Lai massacre, Tyler’s robots are so obedient, that they won’t hesitate and question their actions or accept personal responsibility—they just do it. Tyler is capitalizing on the fact that they respect him for who he is and what he has done