His Life and Learning
Stanley Milgram was a social psychologist born on August 15, 1933 in the South Bronx. His parents were two Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe, his father Samuel, a baker and cake decorator, and his mother, Adele. The family also included Milgram's sister Marjorie who was a year and a half older, and his brother Joel who was 5 years younger (Blass 1-3).
According to Blass, Milgram was very intelligent in elementary school and took an interest in science, sometimes exploding sodium bombs in the Bronx River (4).
Fall 1947:
Milgram began at James Monroe High School in the fall of 1947, which had about 3,500-4,000 students. Monroe used a tracking system and put the students with the highest IQs in honors classes. Impressively, Milgram had an IQ of 158, the highest out of his classmates and much higher than the average of 100. During his high school years, Milgram's interests lay in chemistry and biology. He was not surprisingly, a member of Arista, the Honor Society, and the editor of the school newspaper, the Science Observer. Milgram took extra classes and summer courses, and because of his obvious academic drive, graduated in only 3 years. Philip Zimbardo, another social psychologist who graduated the same year as Milgram and later became the President of the American Psychological Association (APA), described Milgram as "one of the smartest students in his year" (Blass 9).
Fall 1950:
According to Blass, Milgram started college at Queens in New York because it was tuition free, and wouldn't be a burden on the family income. At Queens College, he majored in Political Science and minored in art. During that time, he received the School Award in Political Science and the Certificate of Excellence in Forensics. He was a member of the National Political Science Honor Society, the president of the International Relations Club, and the vice president of the Debating Society. During Milgram's senior year, his childhood friend, Bernard Fried who attended New York University and minored in psychology, inspired Milgram to consider the field when spending a full day talking to him about it. When Milgram graduated from Queens, receiving a B.A. with honors, he was no longer focused on science, but on psychology (11-13).
According to Blass, Milgram was very intelligent in elementary school and took an interest in science, sometimes exploding sodium bombs in the Bronx River (4).
Fall 1947:
Milgram began at James Monroe High School in the fall of 1947, which had about 3,500-4,000 students. Monroe used a tracking system and put the students with the highest IQs in honors classes. Impressively, Milgram had an IQ of 158, the highest out of his classmates and much higher than the average of 100. During his high school years, Milgram's interests lay in chemistry and biology. He was not surprisingly, a member of Arista, the Honor Society, and the editor of the school newspaper, the Science Observer. Milgram took extra classes and summer courses, and because of his obvious academic drive, graduated in only 3 years. Philip Zimbardo, another social psychologist who graduated the same year as Milgram and later became the President of the American Psychological Association (APA), described Milgram as "one of the smartest students in his year" (Blass 9).
Fall 1950:
According to Blass, Milgram started college at Queens in New York because it was tuition free, and wouldn't be a burden on the family income. At Queens College, he majored in Political Science and minored in art. During that time, he received the School Award in Political Science and the Certificate of Excellence in Forensics. He was a member of the National Political Science Honor Society, the president of the International Relations Club, and the vice president of the Debating Society. During Milgram's senior year, his childhood friend, Bernard Fried who attended New York University and minored in psychology, inspired Milgram to consider the field when spending a full day talking to him about it. When Milgram graduated from Queens, receiving a B.A. with honors, he was no longer focused on science, but on psychology (11-13).
