The BBC Milgram Replication replicated Milgram’s study on obedience using the learner and shock generator. Milgram’s study found that while most people believed they would not generate electric shocks to the point when the learner cries for release, the results showed that 65% of participants administered shocks to the highest level. The replication experiment was very similar to the original experiment and included the “researcher” who was actually an actor and the participants (the “teachers”) who believed they were participating in a experiment about learning. The video showed the participants to gradually become more reluctant and even refuse to continue generating the shocks, but most of them still continued as the actor tells the experiment requires for continuation. In the end, 9 out of the 12 participants went all the way to the maximum shock of 450 volts. The researchers of the video pointed out most people continued to generate shocks because people have the impression that scientific experiments are supposedly beneficial, despite the lack of knowledge the participants had of the “researcher”. The percentage of people who administered shocks to the highest level in the BBC experiment was 10% higher than the percentage of people who did the same in the original experiment.
I was not surprised at the high percentage of people who continued administering the shocks to the highest level as I was expecting a similar turnout to Milgram’s experiment. While I was watching the video, I felt very frustrated with how easily the participants were influenced by the actor’s statement that the experiment required for continuation. I ended up realizing, however, that the obedience of the participants was largely caused by their positive view on scientific experiments and being “caught up in the moment” and not thinking about what they were doing. Watching and observing the BBC experiment and Milgram’s experiment have influenced me to be more questioning and skeptical in various situations and also to not be easily influenced by the statement of others.
