Born in 1933, Stanley Milgram never took psychology courses during his time as an undergraduate but he would later become the man who "shocked the world" based on a psychological experiment. The Milgram Experiment was performed with the intent to show the correlation of obedience and authority.
While Milgram never took any courses in psychology during his college coursework as an undergraduate, he did earn a BA in political science before going on to earn a Ph. D. in social psychology from Harvard. With significant psychologist-elite influences, Milgram learned from Solomon Asch and Gordon Allport. Both had a profound impact on Milgram’s work.
Even though the American Psychological Association held his membership application for approximately one year before granting Milgram a membership, his controversial experiment became one to remember. From one Milgram experiment dubbed the "small world experiment" came "The Six Degrees of Separation" and it was the "Six Degrees of Separation" that continues to be studied today in many psychology courses.
The original Milgram Experiment that was founded from the 1961 Nazi War Criminal Adolf Eichmann trial, began on the belief that those who carried out the crimes of the Holocaust were just following orders. The experiment used electro-shock treatments to gain an understanding on the correlation of obedience and authority. It was widely debated because of the findings during the experiment.
The Stanley Milgram Experiment brought a new light to those who didn’t necessarily want to have their own morals tested. Because of the Milgram experiment, open criticism began. One of the goals of the experiment was to find out if ordinary people would obey ruthless and immoral commands. When the study proved (without a shadow of doubt)that immoral conduct could be found in those with the highest perceived values, debates began. Today, long after the experiment, they continue.
|