Coverage of recent criticisms of Milgram’s obedience experiments in introductory social psychology textbooks
Abstract
This article has two purposes: (a) to broaden awareness of recent criticisms of Milgram’s obedience experiments by providing a relatively inclusive review of them interlaced within a discussion of Gina Perry’s main substantive criticisms and (b) to report the findings of our coverage analysis for recent criticisms in current introductory social psychology textbooks. Past coverage analyses have found a “Milgram-friendly” trend (little or no discussion or even acknowledgment of the large body of criticism published from 1964 onward) that evolved in textbooks from the 1960s to the 1990s and has become more pronounced since that time period. Our findings on coverage of recent criticisms were consistent with those of past text analyses. None of the recent criticisms were covered, even in the social psychology textbooks dated 2015. We discuss a possible explanation for these findings that involves a proposed knowledge-conserving function of social psychology textbooks.
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References
References marked with an asterisk indicate textbooks examined in the present study.
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Biographies
Richard A. Griggs is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of Florida. After earning his PhD in cognitive psychology at Indiana University in 1974, he joined the faculty at the University of Florida that fall. He spent his entire academic career there, retiring in 2008. He won numerous teaching awards at the University of Florida and in 1994 was named Teacher of the Year for 4-year colleges and universities by APA’s Division Two, Teaching of Psychology. His two main research areas are human reasoning and the teaching of psychology. He has published widely in both areas, including 45 articles in Teaching of Psychology. The fourth edition of his introductory psychology textbook, Psychology: A Concise Introduction, was published in 2014. Email: [email protected]
George I. Whitehead III is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Salisbury University. He earned his PhD in social psychology at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst in 1973. The previous year he had joined the faculty at Salisbury University (Salisbury State College at the time), where he is still teaching. He was named outstanding faculty member by the Student Government Association twice and has received a number of local and state awards for his community service. His research interests include pro-social behavior, service-learning, self-presentation theory, and the teaching of psychology. He has published research in each of these areas and co-authored two books on service-learning. The most recent book, A Glorious Revolution for Youth and Communities: Service-Learning and Model Communities was published in 2010. Email: [email protected]
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Article first published online: November 11, 2015
Issue published: October 2015
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