What was stanley milgram known for

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But as with human memory, the study—even published, archived, enshrined in psychology textbooks—is malleable. The problem is, no one can really agree on what it proves instead.

His studies are fantastic little pieces of theater. Capitalizing on the fame his publication earned him, Milgram went on to publish a book on his experiments in and a documentary, Obedience , with footage from the original experiments.

But for a man determined to leave a lasting legacy, Milgram also made it remarkably easy for people to pick it apart. The Yale University archives contain boxes upon boxes of papers, videos, and audio recordings, an entire career carefully documented for posterity. Able to easily access troves of material for the first time, the researchers came flocking. Rather, he argued, people in both categories tried several different forms of protest—those who successfully ended the experiment early were simply better at resisting than the ones that continued shocking.

Obtaining his Ph. Milgram staged meticulously designed sham experiments in which subjects were ordered to administer dangerous shocks to fellow volunteers in reality, the other volunteers were confederates and the shocks were fake. Contradicting the predictions of every expert he polled , Milgram found that more than seventy percent of the subjects administered what they thought might be fatal shocks to an innocent stranger.

Collectively known as The Milgram Experiment, this groundbreaking work demonstrated the human tendency to obey commands issued by an authority figure, and more generally, the tendency for behavior to be controlled more by the demands of the situation than by idiosyncratic traits of the person.

The Milgram Experiment is one of the best-known social psychology studies of the 20th century. With this remarkable accomplishment under his belt, young Dr. During this time at Harvard, Milgram undertook a new, equally innovative line of research, known as the Small World Experiment.