... behaviour. The 'learners' unbeknown to the 'teachers' were actors. The 'teachers' were asked to administer electric shocks of increasing intensity as 'learners' gave incorrect answers to questions. All of the participants gave shocks of at least 300 volts to the learners. The 'teachers' could hear pre-recorded screams of pain from the 'learner'. Both experiments revealed the dark potential in human behaviour and were both topical. Nazi war crime tribunals were underway when Milgram started his study in which Nazi officials used the defence that they were simply following orders. After Zimbardo's experiment there was rioting and escapes from U.S prisons. Both studies have been criticised for their treatment of their human research subjects and raise important ethical issues concerned with research. A broad definition of ethics is 'a branch of philosophy that deals with thinking about morality, moral problems, and judgements of proper conduct'. In this essay I intend to examine the ...

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