The Dark Side of Science: The Horrors of the Facial Expression Experiment 1924 (Short Documentary)

Summary

Carly Landis' 1924 psychological experiment aimed to explore human facial expressions under stress but ended up revealing disturbing insights into obedience to authority. Participants were subjected to psychological stress and even asked to decapitate rats, raising significant ethical concerns. While the study failed to identify universal facial expressions for emotions, it inadvertently highlighted how authority figures can influence behavior. The experiment's ethical issues, including animal cruelty and the treatment of participants, make it a controversial piece of history in psychological research.

Takeaways

• 😀 Carl Landis's 1924 experiment sought to observe human facial expressions and reactions to emotional stimuli, but failed to prove the existence of universal facial expressions for each emotion.
• 😀 Landis categorized facial expressions such as pain, surprise, anger, exasperation, crying, disgust, sexual excitement, and revulsion, but found no uniform reaction across subjects.
• 😀 The study inadvertently highlighted the power of authority, with 15 out of 21 participants willing to decapitate a rat under the experimenter's instruction, showing the influence of authority figures.
• 😀 The experiment raised serious ethical concerns, including potential animal cruelty, psychological stress on participants, and issues with informed consent, especially with one child participant.
• 😀 The use of male and female experimenters for male and female participants created gender-based biases in the results, calling the study’s validity into question.
• 😀 Landis's study failed to meet its main objective of identifying distinct facial expressions tied to specific emotions, and the reactions varied widely between individuals.
• 😀 Despite the ethical issues, Landis continued his career and became a prominent figure, publishing several books and papers, even speaking out about the problems with psychosurgery.
• 😀 The experiment's design lacked a diverse participant pool, as nearly all subjects were university students, which made the results less representative of the general population.
• 😀 The study was a product of a time when psychological research lacked rigorous ethical oversight, with experiments like the 'Little Albert' study and others happening around the same period.
• 😀 The ethical criticisms of the study included exposing participants to psychological torture, such as writing down secrets, electric shocks, and animal murder, and the extended nature of the decapitation task.
• 😀 Landis's experiment is now seen as a cautionary tale in psychological research, highlighting the potential harm in research that disregards ethical standards for the sake of scientific inquiry.

Q & A

What was Carl Landis's initial goal in his 1924 experiment?

Carl Landis aimed to study the relationship between facial expressions and emotions, specifically to see if there were universal facial expressions for each emotion.

What unexpected discovery did Landis make during his experiment?

Landis's experiment inadvertently uncovered the concept of obedience to authority, as 15 out of 21 participants decapitated a rat under the guidance of the experimenter, despite many participants being uncomfortable with the task.

What ethical concerns arose from Landis's experiment?

The experiment raised concerns about animal cruelty, psychological torture, lack of informed consent (especially with a child participant), and the use of deceptive practices like loud noises to induce stress in participants.

What were the primary facial expressions Landis categorized in his study?

Landis categorized facial expressions into pain, surprise, anger, exasperation, crying, disgust, sexual excitement, and revulsion.

Did Landis's study succeed in finding universal facial expressions for each emotion?

No, Landis's study failed to demonstrate universal facial expressions for each emotion, as there was no consistent reaction across all subjects.

How did the study demonstrate human obedience to authority?

The study showed that authority figures could influence participants to perform actions that conflicted with their moral values, such as killing the rat, suggesting that people may obey commands even when it causes them discomfort or harm.

What were the major flaws in Landis's experiment design?

Major flaws included a lack of a control group, a small and homogenous sample size, and gender biases in the selection of experimenters for male and female participants.

What was the ethical issue with using a child in the experiment?

The use of a child participant raised concerns about informed consent, as children may not fully understand the risks or implications of participating in such an experiment.

How did the experiment impact Landis's career despite its controversial nature?

Despite the ethical issues, Landis's career remained successful, and he continued to release papers and books on psychology, even speaking out about the problems with psychosurgery.

What is the historical context of Landis's experiment in relation to other psychological studies of the time?

Landis's experiment took place during a period when unethical psychological experiments were more common, such as the Baby Albert experiment (1920) and the Gaia and Donald experiment (early 1930s), which contributed to a lack of stringent ethical standards in psychological research at the time.