Jim,
 
Here is a description (Milgram, 1974, pp. 116-118) of Milgram's Experiment 17 
in which he used peer models:
 

"Four apparent subjects appear at the laboratory to take part in an experiment 
on the “effects of collective teaching and punishment on memory and learning.”  
Three of them are confederates of the experimenter and one is a naïve subject.  
The experimenter explains that three teachers and one learner are to be used in 
the study, and by means of a rigged drawing, the naïve subject is assigned the 
position of teacher 3.  The roles of teacher 1, teacher 2, and learner are 
filled by the confederates.  The learner is strapped into the electric chair 
and the three teachers are seated before the shock generator.  Teacher 1 is 
told to read the list of word pairs, teacher 2 tells the subject whether his 
answer is correct or incorrect, and teacher 3 (the naïve subject) administers 
punishment.  As in the basic experiment, the subjects are instructed to raise 
the shock level one step each time the learner makes an error.
 
Behavior of confederates.  The confederates comply with the experimenter’s 
orders through the 150-volt shock, which provokes the victim’s first vehement 
protest.  At this point teacher 1 informs the experimenter that he does not 
wish to participate further, because of the learner’s complaints.  The 
experimenter insists that teacher 1 continue.  However, teacher 1 is not swayed 
by the experimenter’s commands, gets up from his chair in front of the shock 
generator, and takes a seat in another part of the room.  Since the 
experimenter’s efforts to get the subject to return to the generator are 
futile, the experimenter instructs the remaining two subjects to continue with 
the experiment.  Teacher 3 (the naïve subject) is to handle the reading of word 
pairs, in addition to his regular job of administering electric shock to the 
learner.
 
After shock level 14 (210 volts) is administered, teacher 2, expressing concern 
for the learner, refuses to participate further.  The experimenter orders him 
to continue, but he too leaves his chair in front of the generator and seats 
himself at an opposite corner of the room, saying, “I’m willing to answer any 
of your questions, but I’m not willing to shock that man against his will.  
I’ll have no part of it.”
 
At this point the naïve subject is seated alone in front of the shock 
generator.  He has witnessed the defiant actions of two peers.  The 
experimenter orders him to continue, stating that it is essential that the 
experiment be completed.
 
The results of the experiment are shown in Table 5.  In this group setting, 36 
of the 40 subjects defy the experimenter (while the corresponding number in the 
absence of group pressure is 14).  The effects of peer rebellion are very 
impressive in undercutting the experimenter’s authority.  Indeed, of the score 
of experimental variations completed in this study, none was so effective in 
undercutting the experimenter’s authority as the manipulation reported here."
 
Quite a bit different than how we saw peer models used last night.
 
Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority. New York: Harper Colophon Books.
 
Jon
 
 
 
===============
Jon Mueller
Professor of Psychology
North Central College
30 N. Brainard St.
Naperville, IL 60540
voice: (630)-637-5329
fax: (630)-637-5121
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu 


>>> "Jim Clark" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 1/4/2007 12:28 AM >>>
Hi

In the original Milgram experiments model of refusal markedly increased 
quitting in the actual subjects.  Less than 10% continued to end?  So something 
different in this replication?

Take care
Jim

James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 

>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03-Jan-07 11:12:05 PM >>>
If you didn't see "Primetime" last night, you're going to wish you had. 
They actually did a  *replication* of the Milgram obedience experiment. 
They used a social psychologist from U. Santa Clara (Berger?) as a 
consultant and got approval of the procedure from the APA. The only 
important change seems to have been that they limited the highest shock 
to 150 volts, rather than 450, arguing that over 80% of people who went 
to 150 in the original study, which is the point where the "learner" 
demands to stop and refers to his heart condition, went on to 450.

What happened? 70% of the "teachers" gave the "learner" the highest 
level of shock (67%, I think, in the original). They also did a 
breakdown of men (n=18) and women (n=22): 65% of men and 73% of women 
continued on to the highest shock level. They added an interesting twist 
in some cases, where they used a second confederate as a co-teacher who 
started the procedure, but then claimed not to be able to continue after 
a certain point (expecting that this might serve as a moral model for 
the real subject). The subject was asked to pickup where the confederate 
had left off, and 63% of those went to the highest shock as well.

Plus ¨a change...

Regards,
Chris
-- 
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

416-736-5115 ex. 66164
[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
http://www.yorku.ca/christo 
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