(A) What is Ecological Valdity? (B) Why is Milgram's study weak in terms of Ecological Validity?

(A) Ecological Validity is the extent to which an experiment's findings can be generalised to real life settings.(B) Milgram's study took place in a Laboratory setting. In the experiment, the task of asking questions and then applying electric shocks to someone is very unusual and would not occur in real life. Similarly, the experimenters took the participant into a room and wore lab coats and used clipboards etc. These are symbols of authority, as they are like uniforms and indicative of scientific expertise, and it is rare that people take stern orders from uniformed, expert figures in every day life. Participants may have felt intimidated and would therefore be less likely to defy the instructions. The authority and tasks to which people show obedience in everyday life are a lot less intense, so the experiment's findings may not apply to normal life obedience.