Milgram experiment In the Milgram experiment, a confederate playing the role of a “learner” (top) was strapped into an electrical apparatus that (purportedly) delivered electric shocks administered by the research participant, who was the “teacher.” The bottom photo shows the shock generator used by participants in the experiment to (purportedly) deliver electric shocks to the learner. The participant was instructed to flick switches at the bottom of the box to deliver increasingly severe punishments when the learner made errors.