Participants in the Milgram obedience studies were ordered to

A) play the role of the prison guards.
B) write an essay supporting a position they didn't believe in.
C) deliver electric shocks to a learner for giving answers.
D) participate in a team tug-of-war by pulling on a rope as hard as they could.

In the Milgram obedience studies, participants were ordered to deliver electric shocks to a learner for giving incorrect answers. The shocks were not real, but the participant believed they were administering painful electric shocks to the learner, who was actually an actor. This study was designed to investigate the extent to which people would obey an authority figure, even when it meant harming another person.