Psychology – A Level content progression | e-Consult
A Level content progression (1 questions)
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Strengths
- Demonstrated the powerful influence of situational factors on behaviour, which can be linked to neural mechanisms of stress and authority processing.
- Provided controlled laboratory conditions that allowed precise manipulation of the independent variable (authority pressure).
- Large sample size (60 participants) increased statistical reliability.
Limitations
- Ecological validity is low; the artificial laboratory setting does not reflect real‑world obedience contexts.
- Participants were all male volunteers from a specific cultural background (1960s USA), limiting generalisability.
- Ethical concerns (deception, stress) may have affected participants’ physiological responses, confounding biological interpretations.
- The study measured overt behaviour rather than direct neural activity, so inferences about biological processes are indirect.
Overall, while Milgram’s study offers valuable insights for biological psychology by highlighting how external pressures can trigger stress‑related physiological responses, its methodological and ethical shortcomings mean it should be supplemented with neuroimaging or psychophysiological research for a fuller biological account.