10 EXPERIMENTOS PSICOLÓGICOS PROHIBIDOS Y QUE CAMBIARON EL MUNDO

Summary

The video discusses 10 controversial psychological experiments from the 20th century that breached ethical standards. These experiments, despite their questionable ethics, have contributed significantly to our understanding of human behavior. Examples include Watson’s conditioning of a child known as 'Little Albert,' Milgram’s obedience experiments, and the Stanford prison experiment. The video emphasizes how these studies, now considered unethical, have shaped modern psychology by highlighting darker aspects of human behavior, group dynamics, and authority. The script also touches on the ethical evolution in scientific research over time.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The 20th century saw the development of strict ethical codes in science, particularly in psychology, though earlier experiments often violated these standards.
• 🐁 The 'Little Albert' experiment by John Watson in 1920 involved conditioning a child to fear furry objects, an experiment now considered unethical due to the harm caused to the child.
• 📏 Solomon Asch's 1951 conformity experiment showed that people tend to give incorrect answers to match a group's consensus, despite clear evidence to the contrary.
• 🚶‍♂️ The 'Bystander Effect' experiments by John Darley and Bibb Latané in 1968 demonstrated that individuals are less likely to report emergencies when in groups.
• ⚡ Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment in 1961 revealed that people often obey authority figures, even when asked to harm others, raising ethical concerns about psychological harm.
• 🐒 Harry Harlow's 1950s experiments with monkeys showed the importance of maternal bonding but were criticized for their cruelty towards animals.
• 🐕 The 1965 'Learned Helplessness' experiments by Martin Seligman on dogs showed how uncontrollable situations can lead to passivity, raising ethical concerns over animal welfare.
• 🏕 The Robbers Cave experiment by Muzafer Sherif in 1954 demonstrated how group conflict can be resolved through cooperation but is considered unethical due to its use of deception.
• 🗣 The 1939 'Monster Study' attempted to induce stuttering in orphans, causing lasting psychological damage, which would be unethical by today's standards.
• 🚔 The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, led by Philip Zimbardo, exposed the dangers of assigning power roles, leading to abusive behavior, and is now considered highly unethical.

Q & A

What is the central ethical concern of many 20th-century psychological experiments mentioned in the transcript?

Many of the psychological experiments mentioned violated ethical standards, such as informed consent, causing harm to participants, or using deception. These practices would be considered unethical today but were instrumental in understanding human behavior.

What was the goal of John Watson's 'Little Albert' experiment, and why is it considered unethical?

Watson's experiment aimed to study classical conditioning by inducing fear in a nine-month-old boy, 'Little Albert.' The experiment is considered unethical because it caused emotional distress and induced long-lasting phobias without informed consent or proper care for the child's well-being.

What was the primary finding of Asch's conformity experiments?

Asch's conformity experiments found that a significant number of participants conformed to incorrect answers given by a group, even when the correct answer was obvious. This demonstrated the power of social pressure on individual decision-making.

How did the 'bystander effect' experiments conducted by Darley and Latané contribute to understanding human behavior?

The 'bystander effect' experiments showed that individuals were less likely to report an emergency or take action when they were in groups, suggesting that the diffusion of responsibility occurs when multiple people witness an event but assume others will act.

What did Milgram’s obedience experiments reveal about authority and individual behavior?

Milgram's experiments revealed that people are highly likely to obey authority figures, even when instructed to perform actions that conflict with their personal conscience, such as administering what they believed were painful electric shocks to others.

What ethical issues were raised by Harry Harlow's experiments with primates?

Harlow's experiments, which involved isolating monkeys and exposing them to 'mothers' made of cloth or wire, raised ethical concerns about animal cruelty and the long-term psychological harm inflicted on the monkeys.

What is learned helplessness, and how did Seligman's experiments demonstrate this phenomenon?

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition where individuals or animals believe they have no control over their situation, leading to passive behavior. Seligman demonstrated this by showing that dogs who were unable to escape electric shocks eventually stopped trying, even when escape was possible.

What was the purpose of Sherif’s 'Robbers Cave' experiment, and why is it considered unethical today?

Sherif's experiment aimed to study intergroup conflict by manipulating groups of boys at a summer camp into competition and later cooperation. It is considered unethical because the boys were deceived, and their emotional responses were manipulated without informed consent.

How did the 'Monster Study' conducted by Johnson contribute to understanding speech disorders, and why was it controversial?

The 'Monster Study' aimed to understand the causes of stuttering by giving positive or negative feedback to orphaned children. It was controversial because the negative treatment led to long-term emotional damage, even though the children did not develop stuttering.

What were the ethical concerns raised by Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment?

Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment faced ethical concerns due to the psychological abuse experienced by the participants, the lack of intervention from the experimenters, and the absence of fully informed consent. The guards became abusive, and the prisoners experienced severe stress and emotional trauma.