Abstract
In step-by-step detail, in this chapter Russell discusses the learning process Stanley Milgram relied on during the invention of his “Remote condition” baseline experiment. What becomes evident is that the invention of this procedure did not leap suddenly from the depths of Milgram’s imagination in its complete form. Nor did Milgram foresee before running the first set of pilot studies that his basic official procedure would end in so many participants inflicting every shock. Instead, archive evidence demonstrates that the basic procedure developed following a protracted and circuitous learning process. This learning process involved a combination of Milgram drawing on his past experiences, shrewd intuition, and reliance on the ad hoc trail-and-error exploratory method of discovery.
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Russell, N. (2018). How Milgram Ensured Most Participants Completed the First Official Experiment. In: Understanding Willing Participants, Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95816-3_4
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