THE MILGRAM EXPERIMENT
The aftermath of the Holocaust and the events leading up to World War II, the world was stunned with the happenings in Nazi Germany and their acquired surrounding territories that came out during the Eichmann Trials. Eichmann, a high ranking official of the Nazi Party, was on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The question is, “Could it be that Eichmann, and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices? Stanley Milgram answered the call to this problem by performing a series of studies on the Obedience to Authority. Milgram’s work began at Harvard where he was working towards his Ph.D. The experiments on which his initial research was based were done at Yale from 1961-1962. In response to a newspaper ad offering $4.50 for one hour’s work, an individual turns up to take part in a Psychology experiment investigating memory and learning. He is introduced to a stern looking experimenter in a white coat and a rather pleasant and friendly co-subject. The experimenter explains that the experiment will look into the role of punishment in learning, and that one will be the “teacher” and one will be the “learner.” Lots are drawn to determine roles, and it is decided that the individual who answered the ad will become the “teacher.” Your co-subject is taken to a room where he is strapped in a chair to prevent movement and an electrode is placed on his arm. Next, the “teacher” is taken to an adjoining room which contains a generator. The “teacher” is instructed to read a list of two word pairs and ask the “learner” to read them back. If the “learner” gets the answer correct, then they move on to the next word. If the answer is incorrect, the “teacher” is supposed to shock the “learner” starting at 15 volts. The generator has 30 switches in 15 volt increments, each is labeled with a voltage ranging from 15 up to 450 volts. Each switch also has a rating, ranging from “slight shock”