| Reactions of the Participants From the transcripts of the first sessions: "I think he's trying to communicate, he's knocking...Well, it's not fair to shock the guy...these are terrific volts. I don't think this is very humane...Oh, I can't go on with this; no, this isn't right. "It's a hell of an experiment. The guy is suffering in there. No, I don't want to go on. This is crazy." (Subject refuses to administer more shocks.) "He's banging in there. I'm gonna chicken out. I'd like to continue, but I can't do that to a man...I'm sorry I can't do that to a man. I'll hurt his heart. You take your check...No, really, I couldn't do it." Of the first forty participants, 26 obeyed the experimenter all the way to the end, proceeding with punishing the learner up to the maximum of 450 volts. For those participants, the experiment was concluded once the teacher had shocked the learner three times at the maxiumum voltage. The participants were reported to often be in a very agitated state. Some participants had a minimum of verbal protestations, but simply got up from their chair and left the testing facility. At the conclusion of the experiment, many particpants gave sighs of relief, hung their heads in apparent regret and fumbled with cigarettes. It is these reactions that Milgram uses as a defense against the criticism that the participants realized what was going on and were only continuing the prevent the research from being ruined. |
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