Rank these four Milgram variations from the HIGHEST level of obedience down to the LOWEST, reasoning from how close the authority and the victim are in each.

1. Experimenter present in the room; learner unseen and unheard in another room.
2. Experimenter present in the room; learner in the same room, visible and audible.
3. Experimenter present in the room; participant must force the learner's hand onto the shock plate.
4. Experimenter absent from the building, issuing all instructions by telephone.

Obedience is highest when the victim is remote and the authority is present, and falls step by step as the victim becomes vivid (seen, then touched). The steepest fall comes when the authority leaves and phones his orders in, because what holds the participant in place is the authority's physical presence - remove that and most of the obedience goes with it.