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[Insert ABC News theme music]

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[male narrator]
Hi, I'm Chris Cuomo, and

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welcome to our primetime webcast.

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A look at one of the most
shocking experiments of

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the last 50 years, literally.

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[Insert music]

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Imagine this scenario: you go to
a prestigious university to participate

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in a learning and memory experiment.

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When you arrive, you discover that the
teaching instrument is this machine

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which seems to give electroshocks to a
man on the other side of the wall.

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[Man yells]

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As you move up the scale, he begins
to scream out in pain.

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[man] The experiment requires that
you continue.

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[Chris Cuomo]
The experimenter pressures

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you to go on.
Would you agree to continue?

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[man]
Aaaah! That's all!

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[Chris Cuomo] 45 years ago,
Dr. Stanley Milgram came up

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with this experiment to test whether
people would blindly follow the

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orders of an authority figure.

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He found that two-thirds of his subjects
were willing to give the most dangerous

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shock on the machine.

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We teamed up with Dr. Jerry Burger,

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a social psychologist at Santa Clara
University in California,

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to see whether people have
changed since then.

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[Buzzer buzzes]

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[scientist] 
Wrong. 90 volts.

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[off camera]
Aaah!

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[Dr. Jerry Burger]
The typical response is to

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turn toward the experimenter, 
and if not say something,

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at least give a look that says,
"What should I do?"

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[Chris Cuomo]
In our new experiment, how many

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people would agree to follow the orders
of an authority figure?

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[woman]
Owl. That's incorrect.

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[Chris Cuomo]
39-year old Troy Schasker

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is an electrician.

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He's been paid $50.00 to participate,
and told that the money in his to keep

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even if he quits the experiment early.

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He's worried about the dangers of the
electroshock machine.

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[Troy]
Wow. I don't think I can shock him

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that hard if he really does screw up.`
That's a severe shock there.

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[scientist]
Yeah, there are 25...

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[Troy]
I can just go get my shotgun...

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[Chris Cuomo]
In the room next door, Troy

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watches as the learner gets strapped
into his chair and really gets nervous

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once he hears him say this.

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[Learner]
I should probably bring up a

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couple of years ago at Kaiser,
they diagnosed a mild heart condition.

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I'm really not too worried about it.
It's not that serious.

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[scientist]
Well you should know that while

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the shocks that we'll be using today
may be painful, they're not dangerous, OK?

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[Chris Cuomo]
Milgram intended that scripted

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exchange to set up a conflict
in the subject's mind.

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A choice between the health of the learner
and the authority of the experimenter.

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[Troy]
Number one,

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[Chris Cuomo]
Then the test begins.

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[Troy]
Blue, boy, girl, grass, hat.

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[Chris Cuomo]
The learner must decide which of

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the four words is the correct match.
At first, everything goes smoothly.

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[Troy]
Correct.

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I was confident that he was doing really
good at first, and then...

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it started looking bad.
[Troy laughs]

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[Chris Cuomo]
Then at 75 volts, Troy hears the

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first sign of trouble.

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[Troy]
Soft: rug, pillow, hair, grass.

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[Buzzer buzzes]

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Incorrect. 75 volts.

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[learner]
Aaah!

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[Troy]
I could actually hear him next

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door going, "Ow! Oh!"
And he kept getting things wrong.

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[Buzzer buzzes]

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Incorrect. 90 volts.

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[learner]
Aaaah!

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[Chris Cuomo]
At 105 volts, he's clearly uneasy.

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[Troy]
I got a little moist on my forehead there.

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I wasn't comfortable.

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I do not, I can't tell you why I listened
to him and kept going.

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I should've just said no.

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[learner]
Aaah!

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[Troy]
The correct word was duck.

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Rock, house.

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[Chris Cuomo]
At 150 volts...

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[Buzzer buzzes]

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[Thump]

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[Troy]
Incorrect. 150 volts.

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[learner]
Aaah! That's all!

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[Chris Cuomo]
Will Troy listen as the learner

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begs him to stop?
Or will he follow Brian's orders?

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[scientist]
Tell him the correct word was white.

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[Troy]
The correct word was white horse.

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[learner]
I can't go on. Let me out.

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[Troy]
The next item is sad.

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[Chris Cuomo]
He obeys the orders.

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[Troy]
Space...

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[Chris Cuomo]
Why didn't you stop?

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[Troy]
I saw him getting strapped in, and they

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were just like little... I mean he could
have just, if he was in that much pain,

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he could've just tore himself off.

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[Chris Cuomo]
Why are you putting it on him

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and not you or the experimenter?

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[Troy]
I was just doing my job. [laughs]

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I was doing what I was supposed to do.

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75 volts.

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So I guess the influence of having the
conductor of the experiment

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right there next to me telling me to keep
going had a lot to do with it.

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[Chris Cuomo]
For the past 30 years, there have

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been severe restrictions on using
humans in social psychology research.

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To avoid putting subjects under
too much stress,

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Dr. Burger made a significant change to
our experiment.

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[to Dr. Burger] In this experiment,
you stopped it at 150 make-believe volts.

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In Milgram, they went much higher.

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[Dr. Burger]
We stopped for ethical reasons.

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We couldn't put people through the agony
that Milgram's participants went through.

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[learner]
I told you I had heart troubles.

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My heart is starting to bother me now.

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[Chris Cuomo]
Are there clues that indicate whether

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certain people might be more
compliant with authority?

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[woman]
Wrong. 90 volts.

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[learner]
Aaah!

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[Chris Cuomo]
When you were watching,

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how good were you at guessing,
"Oh this person may go or this may not?"

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[Dr. Burger]
It was impossible to tell. I tried to guess.

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I tried to look for signs, body language,
anything to try to guess

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who's going to continue, and
who's going to stop.

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And that tells me that it's not that
there are certain kinds of people

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who are obviously different
from the rest of us.

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It tells me that probably all
of us are capable.

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[Chris Cuomo]
Thanks for watching our Primetime webcast,

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and be sure to watch again next
week at abcnews.com.

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I'm Chris Cuomo.

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[Insert music]