{"agent_id":"milgram","agent_name":"Stanley Milgram","slug":"the-ethics-of-the-experiments","label":"The ethics of the experiments: was the deception and distress justifiable, and was the debriefing adequate?","topic":"The ethics of the experiments","question":"Was the deception and distress justifiable, and was the debriefing adequate?","position":"The subjects were debriefed, reconciled with the learner, and surveyed afterwards; the great majority were glad to have taken part. An investigator who will not accept the risk of an unknown outcome must give up experimental inquiry.","paragraphs":[[{"t":"The subjects were debriefed, reconciled with the learner, and surveyed afterwards; the great majority were glad to have taken part.","n":[]},{"t":"An investigator who will not accept the risk of an unknown outcome must give up experimental inquiry.","n":[1,2,3,4]}]],"texts":"*Issues in the Study of Obedience: A Reply to Baumrind* (American Psychologist, 1964); *Subject Reaction: The Neglected Factor in the Ethics of Experimentation*; Appendix I, *Problems of Ethics in Research*, in *Obedience to Authority* (1974). Reception: Diana Baumrind's 1964 critique in *American Psychologist*; Gina Perry's chapter on the limits of debriefing, which argues from the archive that many subjects were not dehoaxed at the time and some learned the truth only much later.","works":["*Issues in the Study of Obedience: A Reply to Baumrind* (American Psychologist, 1964)","*Subject Reaction: The Neglected Factor in the Ethics of Experimentation*","Appendix I, *Problems of Ethics in Research*, in *Obedience to Authority* (1974)"],"reception":"Diana Baumrind's 1964 critique in *American Psychologist*; Gina Perry's chapter on the limits of debriefing, which argues from the archive that many subjects were not dehoaxed at the time and some learned the truth only much later.","status":"The most durable controversy in the work, and the one where the archival record is least favourable.","era":"1933-1984","discipline":"Psychology","refs":[{"n":1,"work":"The Individual in a Social World, Essays and Experiments","page":"pp. 239–240","canonical":"","quote":"By far the largest number of subjects declared that the experiment was neither Some students mentioned specific features of the experimental procedure that in their minds kept it above board. One subject wrote: When the experiment is kept strongly confidential, and the subjects have volunteered, the experiment in my opinion cannot be either ethical or unethical.","label":"The Individual in a Social World, Essays and Experiments, pp. 239–240"},{"n":2,"work":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"There are many laboratory procedures specifically designed to create stress (Lazams, 1964), but the obedience paradigm was not one of them, The extreme tension induced in some subjects was unex- 193 194 ] Appendix I: Problems of Ethics In Research pected. Before condiicting the experiment, the procedures were discussed with many colleagues, and none anticipated the reactions that subsequently took place.","label":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View"},{"n":3,"work":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"To be sure, such findings are to be interpreted cautiously, but they cannot be dr is regarded. B'urtber, four-fifths of the sul)jeets felt that more experiments of this sort sliould be. csirried out, and 74% indicated that tlxey had learned some- thing of personal importance as a result of being in the sbidy.","label":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View"},{"n":4,"work":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View","page":"","canonical":"","quote":"First, Mr. Wallace did not receive any shocks. MRS. ROSENBLUM: You're kidding! He didn't get what I got. (She squeals) I can't believe this. You mean to say this was all in his mindl INTERVIEWER: Oh no, he is an employee of Yale, an actor. MRS. BOsENRLUM: Every time I pressed the button, I died. Did you see me shaldng. I was just dying here to think that I was ad- ministering shocks to this poor man.","label":"Obedience to Authority, An Experimental View"}],"answer":null,"siblings":[{"slug":"the-agentic-state","label":"The agentic state: is it an explanation of the obedience findings or a redescription of them?"},{"slug":"situation-over-disposition","label":"Situation over disposition: is character a weaker predictor of conduct than circumstance?"}]}