Professor Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University has finally put the doubts to rest. Many psychologists have maintained for 40 years that the 1963 Stanley Milgram studies could never be repeated with the same results. Milgram was the Yale psychology professor who had confederates pose as learners who were to be given electric shocks by study participants when they gave wrong answers. (You Ghostbusters fans have seen Bill Murray do the experiment as “poor scientist” Dr. Peter Venkman.) The confederate learners feigned pain with each shock the participants thought they were administering. The participants, who often looked around for reassurance, were told by a lab-coated supervisor to keep going. 80% of Milgram’s participants went to 150-volts of shock, despite the cries of pain. Milgram also had 65% take the shocks up to 450 volts. Professor Burger had 70% of his participants take the shocks up to 150 volts. We do follow orders.  The Barometer teaches students about Milgram’s and Burger’s work because it helps them understand that, on occasion, saying “No!” to authority figures is important. That “No” applies to orders to cook books, pay bribes, and sell air to investors, actions that can produce pain as stunning as electric shocks.Â
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