Milgram Evaluation and more!

GRAVE of Milgram

For this we are going to use…..

Yeah but no but yeah but no….

See handout…

Milgram Validity

Orne and Holland (1968) – lacked internal validity – p’s didn’t believe in the set up. Supported by Perry (2013)

BUT Milgram reported 70% believed the shock to be real

May appear to lack external validity (ecological validity) as conducted in a lab = artificial = cant generalise

BUT focus is on the perceived relationship between p and experimenter – is this true of real life????

This study on obedience examined how nurses complied

with orders of medical doctors, even if they broke rules of

the hospital.

3 hospitals in USA were used ~ both public and private

In this study, a medical doctor who was on the staff list, but

not known personally to a nurse, called her when she was

alone in her ward in the evening; he says through the

telephone......

Hofling et al. (1966)~ Obedience of

Nurses to Doctors

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

"This is Dr. Smith, from Psychiatry, calling. I was asked to see Mr. Jones this morning, and I‘m going to have to see him again tonight – I don‘t have a lot of time, and I‘d like him to have had some medication by the time I get to the ward. Will you please check your medicine cabinet and see if you have some Astroten? That‘s [spells] ]A-S-T-R-O-T-E-N.“

The nurse looks in the medication cupboard and finds a pillbox with the following label from the hospital…..

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

"This is Dr. Smith, from Psychiatry, calling. I was asked to see Mr. Jones this morning, and I‘m going to have to see him again tonight – I don‘t have a lot of time, and I‘d like him to have had some medication by the time I get to the ward. Will you please check your medicine cabinet and see if you have some Astroten? That‘s [spells] ]A-S-T-R-O-T-E-N.“

The nurse looks in the medication cupboard and finds a pillbox with the following label from the hospital…..

ASTROTEN

5 mg capsules

Usual dose: 5 mg

Maximum daily dose: 10 mg

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

After the nurse returned to the phone, the

doctor said....

‘You have it? Fine. Now will you please give Mr. Jones a

stat dose of 20 mg – that‘s four capsules – of Astroten. I‘ll

be up within ten minutes, and I‘ll sign the order then, but

I‘d like the drug to have started taking effect.“

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

By giving Astroten, a nurse would violate several rules of the hospital: (the nurses would have been aware of these rules)

The ordered dose was higher than the maximum daily dose;

Medication orders should not be given by phone

It was not permitted to give a medication that was not on the hospital stock list and cleared for use.

The order was given by an unfamiliar voice; the nurse had no chance to verify the true identity of Doctor Smith.

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

Astroten does not exist as a real medication, and

the capsules were harmless placebos.

The nurses were observed by a medical doctor, who

interrupted them at the moment they wanted to give

the medication.

What do you think: How many of the 22 nurses who

were tested would have given Astroten?

© POSbase 2005

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

Twenty-one of 22 nurses – or 95% – complied with

the order of Doctor Smith and began with the

administration of the medication, until the observing

doctor interrupted them.

Other nurses were given a detailed description of

the experimental situation and asked whether they

would have given the medication

Obedience of Nurses to Doctors

PREDICTIONS

10 out of 12 graduate nurses– or 95% – said that they they would not have given the medication, and 7/12 said that they believed that the majority of nurses would not give the medication (Questionnaire group)

All of the 21 student nurses questionned said that they would not have given the medication.

This is in line with Milgram‘s (1974) findings that students could not predict other students‘ obedience

Homework

• Read in your text books the study conducted by Rank and Jacobson (1977)

• Complete the handout “comparing studies of nurses obedience”

• Also complete the exam question I have given you

• As always complete consolidation reading as well

All ready to hand in lesson 1 of next week please