In Milgram's obedience study, the __ were staged to give wrong answers and act out painful responses to fake shocks. teachers researchers participants confederates

The confederates were the actors in Milgram's obedience study who pretended to be the "learners" receiving electric shocks. They provided incorrect answers and exaggerated their reactions to the shocks, inducing a moral conflict for the "teachers" who were administering the shocks. This setup was crucial for testing how far individuals would go in obeying authority figures, even when it involved harming another person. This iconic experiment, conducted in the 1960s by psychologist Stanley Milgram, raised essential ethical questions about the limits of psychological research. It revealed unsettling truths about human nature and obedience, demonstrating that ordinary people could commit acts contrary to their personal conscience under pressure from authority figures. The study sparked enduring discussions in psychology, sociology, and ethics.