Page 150 - The Power to Change Anything

Harness Peer Pressure 139

people to take part in an experiment that lasted one hour and
for which they would be paid $4.50. Interested persons reported
to the basement of Linsly-Chittenden Hall on the campus of
Yale University where they were told that their job would be to
take part in a study that examined the impact of negative rein-
forcement on learning.
While waiting for their turn to earn $4.50, subjects would
chat with another participant about the upcoming job. This
friendly stranger was actually a confederate of Dr. Milgram’s
who was working as part of the research team. Next, a scientist
in a lab jacket would appear and ask each of the two subjects
to reach into an urn and draw out a slip of paper to determine
who would perform which of the two jobs that were available.
One would be a “teacher,” and one would be a “learner.” In
actuality, both slips said “teacher,” guaranteeing that the actual
research subject would take the role of the teacher.
The teacher would then accompany the learner and the
researcher into a small booth where the learner was invited to
sit down while the researcher applied special paste to his arms.
“This,” he explained, “is to ensure solid contact between your
skin and the electrodes when we administer the shocks.” At this
point, the learner would matter-of-factly explain, “A few years
ago in the veterans’ hospital I was told I had a bit of a heart
condition. Will that be a problem?” To which the researcher
would confidently say, “No. While the shocks may be painful,
they are not dangerous.”
After strapping the electrodes to the learner, the researcher
and teacher would close the booth door and move to the
adjoining room. There the teacher would see a frightening
piece of electrical machinery with which he or she would
deliver shocks to the learner. To reassure subjects that the
machine was pumping out real electrons, each “teacher” would
be given a 45-volt burst from the machine as a sample of the
initial shock the learner in the other room would receive dur-
ing the experiment. It hurt.