Final answer:
Compliance in Milgram's experiment decreased most when the teacher had to place the learner's hand on the shock plate, highlighting the significant decrease in obedience seen when personal responsibility for causing harm is increased.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Milgram's experiment, compliance, or doing what the experimenter asked, dropped most significantly when the teacher had to put the learner's hand on a shock plate. This scenario directly confronted the teachers with the physical and human aspects of the harm they were causing, drastically reducing obedience to authority.
Milgram conducted several variations of his original obedience experiment, showing that obedience decreased as the humanity of the person being shocked was increased and the authority of the experimenter decreased. For instance, when the participant had to physically touch the learner, signifying a more personal and direct responsibility for inflicting harm, compliance fell to 30%.
This study is a stark demonstration of the influence of authority on human behavior and raises significant ethical questions about the limits of obedience when it contradicts personal morals and the potential for harm.