10 EXPERIMENTOS PSICOLÓGICOS PROHIBIDOS Y QUE CAMBIARON EL MUNDO

Historias del Antropoceno

17 Mar 202314:53

Summary

TLDRThe 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.

Outlines

00:00

🔬 Ethics and Psychological Experiments

During the 20th century, science, including psychology, developed a strict ethical code for experiments. However, some sociological experiments that wouldn’t meet today's ethical standards have become significant in helping us understand human behavior. This introduction sets the stage for discussing 10 psychological experiments that pushed ethical boundaries.

05:01

👶 Little Albert Experiment

In 1920, John Watson at Johns Hopkins University conducted a classical conditioning experiment on a 9-month-old boy named Albert. The study demonstrated how pairing a neutral object, such as a white rat, with a loud, frightening noise could condition fear responses. Although the experiment provided key insights into conditioned emotional responses, it is considered unethical today because Albert's fear responses were not reversed, and the lasting impact on him was unknown.

10:01

🔍 Asch Conformity Experiment

Solomon Asch's 1951 study at Swarthmore College explored social conformity. Participants were asked to match line lengths in a group setting where actors deliberately gave wrong answers. Asch found that 37 of the 50 participants conformed to the group's incorrect answers, even when the correct choice was obvious. This experiment lacked informed consent, making it unethical by modern standards.

👥 The Bystander Effect

In 1968, psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané explored the 'bystander effect'—the tendency of people not to intervene during emergencies when others are present. They conducted several studies, such as a smoke-filled room test and a staged emergency during a group discussion. The research revealed that individuals were slower to respond or didn’t act when in groups, but the experiments would be considered unethical today due to deception and emotional distress.

⚡ Milgram's Obedience Experiment

In 1961, Stanley Milgram at Yale University studied obedience to authority to understand how ordinary people could commit atrocities, such as during the Holocaust. Participants were instructed to administer increasing electric shocks to a 'learner' (an actor) for wrong answers. Despite the learner’s apparent suffering, most participants continued administering shocks under authority pressure. The psychological harm caused to participants makes this study ethically unacceptable today.

🐒 Harlow’s Primate Studies

In the 1950s, Harry Harlow at the University of Wisconsin conducted experiments on infant rhesus monkeys to study attachment. He placed monkeys with surrogate 'mothers'—one made of cloth for comfort, the other of wire providing food. The monkeys preferred the cloth mother, indicating the importance of emotional bonds over nourishment. Harlow’s isolation experiments were deemed unethical for causing severe emotional trauma to the animals.

😖 Seligman’s Learned Helplessness

Martin Seligman’s 1965 experiment on dogs demonstrated 'learned helplessness.' Some dogs were repeatedly subjected to unavoidable electric shocks, which made them later fail to escape when they could. This experiment provided insights into depression and passivity in humans but was criticized for its cruelty toward animals.

🚨 Robbers Cave Experiment

In 1954, Muzafer Sherif’s 'Robbers Cave Experiment' involved two groups of boys at a summer camp who were manipulated into rivalry and conflict. Sherif orchestrated situations that required cooperation, ultimately leading to group unity. While the experiment revealed much about group dynamics and conflict resolution, the deception and lack of informed consent make it ethically questionable.

🗣️ The Monster Study

In 1939, Wendell Johnson conducted the 'Monster Study' on 22 orphaned children to investigate the causes of stuttering. Half the children were given positive reinforcement, while the other half were subjected to negative criticism, regardless of their speech patterns. The latter group developed speech-related anxieties. The unethical nature of this experiment, particularly its impact on vulnerable children, has made it infamous.

👁️ Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes Experiment

In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott conducted an experiment to demonstrate the effects of discrimination. She divided her elementary school class based on eye color, giving preferential treatment to one group and subjecting the other to negative treatment. The experiment, though not done by a psychologist, showed how quickly children internalized superiority or inferiority. While it raised awareness about discrimination, it is criticized today for its emotional impact on the children.

🚔 Stanford Prison Experiment

Philip Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment examined how people assume roles of authority and submission. Volunteers were assigned roles as prisoners or guards in a simulated prison environment, but the experiment quickly spiraled out of control as guards became abusive and prisoners showed signs of severe distress. The two-week study was terminated after only six days due to the emotional and psychological toll. The unethical nature of this experiment has made it one of psychology’s most controversial studies.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Conditioning

Conditioning refers to the process of learning in which a response becomes associated with a specific stimulus. The video discusses classical conditioning, specifically highlighting John Watson's experiment with 'Little Albert,' where a neutral stimulus (a white rat) was paired with a loud noise, eventually causing the child to fear the rat. This concept helps illustrate how learned responses can be created through associations.

💡Ethical Standards

Ethical standards are principles that govern the conduct of research to ensure the safety, dignity, and rights of participants. Throughout the video, several psychological experiments are discussed that, by modern standards, would be considered unethical due to harm or deception, such as the 'Little Albert' experiment and the Stanford Prison Experiment. These studies are now used as cautionary tales in psychology.

💡Conformity

Conformity is the tendency for individuals to align their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors with those of a group. In the Asch conformity experiment discussed in the video, participants were influenced by a group to provide incorrect answers, highlighting how social pressure can lead individuals to act against their own judgments.

💡Obedience to Authority

Obedience to authority is the act of following orders from figures of authority, often regardless of personal beliefs or ethical considerations. The video covers Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment, which demonstrated that people could inflict harm on others when directed by authority figures, shedding light on behaviors seen in extreme historical events like the Holocaust.

💡Bystander Effect

The bystander effect refers to the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The video discusses studies related to this effect, particularly the murder of Kitty Genovese, which inspired research showing that the presence of others can lead to inaction in emergency situations.

💡Learned Helplessness

Learned helplessness occurs when an individual or animal is repeatedly subjected to a negative stimulus that they cannot escape from, eventually leading them to stop trying to avoid it. The video references Martin Seligman's experiment on dogs, where they were subjected to inescapable shocks and later failed to escape even when it was possible, demonstrating this psychological state.

💡Deception in Research

Deception in research involves misleading participants about the true purpose or nature of an experiment. The video describes several cases where deception was employed, such as the Stanford Prison Experiment and the study involving children at a summer camp, where participants were unaware they were part of a psychological study. Today, deception is highly regulated in research due to ethical concerns.

💡Social Roles

Social roles refer to the expectations and behaviors associated with certain positions or functions in a social setting. The video highlights the Stanford Prison Experiment, where participants assigned to the roles of guards or prisoners quickly conformed to their roles, exhibiting extreme behaviors. This experiment underscored how social roles can influence individual actions and identity.

💡Discrimination

Discrimination involves treating individuals or groups unfairly based on characteristics like race, gender, or other attributes. In the video, Jane Elliott's 'blue eyes vs. brown eyes' experiment is discussed, where children were divided based on eye color to demonstrate how quickly discrimination and prejudice can develop when people are categorized arbitrarily.

💡Dehumanization

Dehumanization is the process of depriving a person or group of positive human qualities, often leading to mistreatment or violence. The Stanford Prison Experiment, as discussed in the video, serves as a powerful example of how people in positions of power (guards) began to dehumanize the prisoners, leading to psychological abuse and the breakdown of social norms.

Highlights

During the 20th century, science developed a strict ethical code regarding what can and cannot be done in experiments, and human psychology is no exception.

Some sociological experiments that do not meet today’s ethical standards have become valuable references for understanding human behavior.

Experiment 10: The Little Albert Experiment (1920) by John Watson tested classical conditioning on a 9-month-old boy by pairing a white rat with loud noises, causing him to develop a fear of the rat and similar objects.

The Little Albert Experiment is now considered unethical as the boy was conditioned to have phobias, which could have had long-term psychological effects.

Experiment 9: Solomon Asch's conformity experiment (1951) demonstrated that 37 out of 50 participants agreed with incorrect answers when placed in groups with actors giving those answers, showing social pressure's effect on conformity.

Asch’s experiment would not meet modern ethical standards as participants were not given informed consent.

Experiment 8: The Bystander Effect study (1968) showed that individuals in groups were slower to report emergencies, revealing that the presence of others can reduce individual responsibility.

In one of the bystander experiments, participants did not notify researchers when someone appeared to be having a seizure if they believed others were present.

Experiment 7: Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment (1961) showed that most participants followed orders to administer painful electric shocks to others, highlighting the power of authority figures.

Milgram’s findings were controversial because participants were misled about the true nature of the study, leading to potential psychological harm.

Experiment 6: Harry Harlow’s experiments on rhesus monkeys (1950s) demonstrated the importance of comfort over nourishment in bonding by showing that baby monkeys preferred cloth surrogate mothers over wire ones.

Harlow’s experiments were stopped due to the unethical treatment of animals, but they contributed to our understanding of human and primate attachment.

Experiment 5: Martin Seligman’s learned helplessness study (1965) used dogs to show that animals, when unable to avoid shocks, became passive, providing insights into depression in humans.

Seligman’s study is now criticized for its unethical treatment of animals as it caused significant stress to the dogs.

Experiment 1: The Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) by Philip Zimbardo revealed the dangers of assigning people to power roles, as participants acting as guards became abusive towards prisoners within days.

The Stanford Prison Experiment was cut short due to the extreme psychological distress it caused, and it is now cited as an example of unethical psychological research.