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Stanley MilgramAugust 15, 1933 –

December 20, 1984

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Insane or onto something?

Shock Machine Experimenter:Obedience and

Authority

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1933: Milgram’s BirthIn comparison: 20th Amendment is approved

(establishing beginning and ending of terms of elected federal offices)

FDR gets sworn in as US President Puts forth the “New Deal”

in response to the Great Depression

21st Amendment is established (ends Prohibition)

Radio becomes the dominant mass media in homes

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FDR getting sworn in as President

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Family HistoryParents: Samuel and Adele Jewish Immigrants Came to America from Eastern

Europe Married in February 1931 Lived in the Bronx

Samuel: Expert baker and cake decorator

Adele: Stay-at-home-mother; always cheerful; the favorite aunt to her nieces and nephews; known for giving really good advice

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Siblings: Marjorie and JoelMarjorie: 1 ½ years older; oldest child; would rather have been an only child

Joel: 5 years younger; youngest child; kind of overlooked unless being compared to his older siblings; Partner in Crime with brother

The Bronx

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The Early YearsElementary School: PS 77 Very intelligent, even from a very early age

At 4 years old, he could recite the Pledge of Allegiance and Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes by heart!

Showed an early interest in Science Stanley’s schooling vs. Joel’s schooling Hebrew School

At his Bar Mitzvah, he gave a speech on the current events of his time, showing concern for the treatment of the Jewish people.

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Chemistry Set for Children

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The Teenage YearsSchool: James Monroe High School (1947) Tracking System Finished high school in three years due to

taking summer classes in addition to an extra class or two each semester.

Bernard Fried: Classmate and one of Milgram’s closest boyhood friends

Philip Zimbardo: Classmate of Milgram’s Graduated same year as Milgram Future President of the American

Psychological Association Future Social Psychologist Best known for the Standford Prison

Experiment and it’s impact on society and future research.

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Graduating Class of 1950Milgram is 2nd from right in

the back row.Zimbardo is 7th from right in

the back row.

Zimbardo’s Yearbook Photo

Milgram’s Yearbook Photo

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The College YearsQueens College (1950) The choice to enroll here was based on it’s location

and the fact that it was tuition free, plus it was academically a smart choice.

Was ranked 2nd in all the nation by the Ford Foundation in 1953.

Major = Political Science, but also took other courses in English Lit, Music, and Art. He even minored in Art!

Received the School Award in Political Science and the Certificate of Excellence in Forensics.

Qualified for membership in the National Political Science Honors Society.

Graduated Phi Beta Kappa. President of the International Relations Club and

Vice President of the Debating Society.

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Phi Beta Kappa’s Stole (above)

and Key (below)

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Queens College

Poli Sci Building

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The College Years cont.Senior Year (1953) Toured France, Spain, and Italy on a motorized bicycle

in the summer before Senior Year. Master of the French language Became impoverished while in Europe Needing to return home, he approached a German

ship bound for the States begging them relentlessly to let him aboard and his persistence paid off, as he was let aboard and allowed to work as a radio communicator and the crewmates even let him stay in a comfortable room!

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Family Tragedy Strikes

December 11, 1953 Samuel suffers a coronary thrombosis and dies in his sleep. Milgram family was hit hard. Life Insurance Policy Adele had to find a job at another bakery. Marjorie helped her mother out briefly. Samuel’s premature death prompted Stanley to prepare his future

family and himself should he himself meet an early demise. He predicted to his wife in their first year of marriage that he

would die at 55, which at the time of the prediction was shocking because of his perfect bill of health.

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Graduate SchoolColumbia University’s School of International Affairs Short-lived partly because of Bernard Fried. Spring Semester of 1954

The Dean recommended that Milgram consider the graduate studies in the Department of Social Relations at Harvard.

Took this as a sign to get into Psychology!

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Grad School-Round 2Harvard (1954) Ford Foundation Fellowship Award

$1,800 towards one year of graduate school. Original application to Harvard was rejected due to not

having any Psych courses under his belt. Wrote a letter of disappointment contradicting the

decision: “If he had had the relevant background prep in psych,

he would not have qualified for the Ford fellowship, which was created mainly for students who had undergrad education in fields other than the behavioral sciences.”

Harvard’s Office of Special Students

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Harvard University

Circa 1950

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Harvard Journey cont.Solomon E. Asch Known as Milgram’s most important scientific

influence Milgram was his teaching assistant for a fall

semester for Social Relations 107, then his research assistant in the following spring.

Wrote a letter to the department chairman expressing how pleased he was with Milgram’s work. This letter ensured that Milgram would be

given assistantships for the rest of his Harvard career.

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Experimenting at Harvard

New persona to go with a new year More spontaneous, more sociable, developed a

wry sense of humor, and even cockier. Peyote trips with Robert Palmer Overzealousness catches up with him

While taking assistantships, students were only allowed to take 3 courses.

Naturally, he signed up for 4 courses and was called on it.

He wrote to the Dean to appeal this decision and perhaps it was because of his cockiness, but his request was denied.

Peyote

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Dissertation Time Chosen topic was “National Character”

Traits that distinguish one culture from another

Wanted to compare differences between cultures on conformity

Gordon Allport Norway and the US Research Training Fellowship--$3,200 October 5th, 1956– he departed for Norway

Researched at the University of Oslo Oslo has students from all over Norway,

so any information gained from the research was representative of the Norwegian culture.

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Gordon Allport

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Dissertation cont. The results from the Norwegian experiments

disproved Milgram’s original hypothesis. Norway vs. the US becomes Norway vs. France Milgram chooses to re-run the test Fellowship close to running out! Additional test were created to see how the

Norwegian non-collegiate population responds to different situations.

Censure Condition Bell Condition

Results: The French subjects conformed less than

their Norwegian counterparts in each of the different experimental conditions.

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Returning to the US Confidence for single-handedly breaking new ground in cross-

cultural studies Solomon Asch’s Job Proposal

Pros: Working with a man of Asch’s stature Salary of $4,200

Cons: No further intellectual gain to be gained Not having ample time to devote to his dissertation

Accepted the job, but with some assumptions Time to write his dissertation Formal affiliation with the institute of Princeton to put

on his résumé. Didn’t live up to his expectations

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Princeton University circa 1960

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1960: A Big Year Toyed with ideas to spin off Asch’s conformity

experiments. Turned in his completed dissertation. October 7th, 1960: applied for a small grant proposal of

$2,000 Led to “self-testing”, naturally.

October 10th, 1960: Letter to Allport October-November: letters of inquiry about funding to

governmental agencies were sent out 1st letter: (Oct. 14) to Luigi Petrullo – head of the

Group Psychology Branch of the Office of Naval Research

2nd letter: (mid Nov.) to the National Institute of Mental Health

3rd letter: (mid Nov.) to the National Science Foundation

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Milgram Meets RomanceAlexandra "Sasha" Menkin Daughter of Jewish immigrants Born in the Bronx Father died when she was young Graduated from Hunter College in Manhattan Met Stanley at a party in the Inwood section of Manhattan in

January 1961 Mothers had opposing views of the courtship

Sasha was 4 1/2 years older than Stanley His mother was concerned at first, but eventually warmed up

to Sasha Her mother was smitten with the match right off the bat

Married on December 10, 1961 at the Brotherhood Synagogue in Greenwich Village

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From an Idea to RealityObedience to Authority Credited Asch to a point Shock Box Sketch Drama: Stolen idea? Interest from the three agencies, though the NSF seemed the most

promising. January 27, 1961: Request for $30,348 for a two year period May 3,1961: Approved for funding! Responsibility to Subjects

"A final but important note must be added concerning the investigator's responsibility to persons who serve in the experiment. There is no question that the subject is placed in a difficult predicament and that strong feelings are aroused. Under these circumstances it is highly important that measurements be taken to insure the subject's well-being before he is discharged from the laboratory. Every effort will be made to set the subject at ease and to assure him of the adequacy of his performance…"

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Obedience Study cont. Each study included the following:

A "Learner"- James McDonough A "Teacher" – Participants ranged in age from 20-50 years old An Authority Figure – John Williams A Shock Machine– a fake one, of course

What Milgram found out about Obedience to Authority The four conditions

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Family Life November 1964: Sasha and Stanley welcome a daughter named

Michele!

January 1967: Sasha and Stanley welcome a sin named Marc!

Once the children were born, Sasha become a homemaker.

There were times when Stanley was taken away from his family because of work, but despite this, he was a very devoted father. He would play games and even take trips with his children!

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Six Degrees of Separation

1967: Small World Experiment 160 Participants Limitations

Only had Target's name and address Must be mailed Must know recipient on a first name basis

Ultimate goal for the participants Ultimate goal for the researchers End results "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" mid 90's

http://youtu.be/vOUdy2J0lfU Criticisms Microsoft Study 2008

6.6 people

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Getting Tenure March 1, 1967: Accepts a teaching position at City

University of New York (CUNY) and gets tenure, when Harvard wouldn't offer a tenured position, possibly because of how his shock experiment was viewed by the public.

While he was there, he was in high demand to have as a dissertation supervisor. While at CUNY, he chaired FOURTEEN doctoral dissertations!

In 1980, CUNY names Milgram "Distinguished Professor of Psychology".

In 1983, he was selected to be a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

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All Good Things Must End

December 20, 1984: Milgram suffers a heart attack (his fifth) hours after hearing a student, Christina Taylor, successfully defend her doctoral dissertation.

He left behind his wife, Sasha, and their two children, Michele and Marc.

He died at age 51.

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Replicating the Shocks Years later, Milgram's work still lives on.

1975: The Tenth Level with William Shatner (Milgram was still alive and even helped produce this)

V For Vendetta- Delia mentions the shock experiment without directly naming Milgram

1986: Peter Gabriel writes "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)

2005: Atrocity re-enacts the Shock Experiments Video of replicating the Shock Experiments: Touch of Evil

http://youtu.be/HwqNP9HRy7Y

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Questions? Would you have been able to go to the XXX zone?

Do you think it was ethical of Milgram to deceive the participants with the notion that they were actually shocking and harming people?

Would you have done something differently if you were to replicate the Shock Experiment?

Does the Six Degrees of Separation shock you? Are you surprised that the number is six?

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Resources Blass, T. (2004). The man who shocked the world: The life and

legacy of Stanley Milgram. New York: Basic Books. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Milgram http://

faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/psyography/stanleymilgram.html Perry, G. (2012). Behind the shock machine: the untold story of the

notorious milgram psychology experiments. The New Press. Video of replicating the Shock Experiments: Touch of Evil

http://youtu.be/HwqNP9HRy7Y "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" mid 90's

http://youtu.be/vOUdy2J0lfU

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