Scientists have long sought to experiment with claims about people, how they behave and how they think in all sorts of situations. Psychology as a science is full of many studies from which we can draw universal conclusions about human nature. Unfortunately, the results of not all experiments are admirable. Some of them even arouse fear of intercourse with another person.

Contents:

  1. The Stanley Milgram experiment
  2. Wendell Johnson's experiment
  3. Solomon Asch's experiment
  4. Foam experiment
  5. Philip Zimbardo's experiment
  6. Harvard Experiment
  7. Jane Elliot's experiment
  8. Carolyn Wood Sherif experiment

1. Stanley Milgram's Experiment

The experiment was organized by a psychologist in 1961. It consisted in pairing up the students. Then one person played the role of a student, the other was a teacher. During the experiment, the young people were accompanied by their professor, who closely watched the situation. The student was connected to a special device that shocked the student with electricity when a specific button was pressed by the teacher. This process was to be fully controlled by the student in the role of a teacher, who was informed that with each incorrect answer of the student to the question asked, the electric shock would become stronger and stronger.

In fact, the level of pain was not increasing at all. People connected to the device were told to lie that it hurt them a lot. Make peculiar moans or contort your face in a grimace. The teachers shocked the students until they were terrified of their pain reactions and wanted to stop.

Then the professor, as a third person, acting as an authority on them, ordered the continuation of the experiment. Despite this, a few ended this improvisation in rebellion against inflicting such atrocities on another human being. They were forced to do so by ethical principles and internal morality. Unfortunately, under the influence of the professors' authority and the orders given to them, they continued to improvise.

The conclusion of the psychologist S. Milgram was that even good people who show an exemplary attitude in society on a daily basis, under the pressure of their authorities, areprone to doing very bad things, including hurting innocent people.

2. Wendell Johnson's experiment

Dr. Wendell is an American psychologist and speech therapist. He conducted the experiment in 1939 in Davenport, Iowa. In his actions, he wanted to prove the theory that stuttering has a psychological basis. Parents, when asked about their children's participation in the experiment, flatly refused for fear of the consequences that their offspring might face in relation to Dr. Johnson's plans.

This man decided to carry out an experiment on children from the orphanage. The project was that children who did not have speech impediments, along with those who did, were randomly divided into two groups. During lessons that were arranged especially for them, e.g. the guide, Mary Tudor, the doctor's assistant, emphasized the pronunciation of children.

She consistently praised only one group, regardless of how the children spoke. The other kept paying attention, telling everyone that they stutter. Unfortunately, with regular classes, which were very similar each time, some children could notice significant changes over time. The youngest, who had been told for a long time that they stuttered, actually lost their fluency and began to do so.

In this way, Dr. Johnson proved that the disorder is psychological. The children who participated in the experiment had as a result various disorders, low self-esteem, and in adulthood most often suffered from depression.

From this experiment you can deduce how strongly the environment affects us. It has the strongest impact on our future if traumatic events happen to children. It is in this period of cognition that our opinion about the world and about ourselves is shaped.

When, despite clear reservations towards outside judgments, people are constantly told that they are doing everything wrong, that they will not cope in life, that they are worth nothing, they can finally get used to such an opinion about themselves. What's more, he can accept it as the truth, and as a result deal with e.g. depression.

3. Solomon Asch's experiment

Was carried out in 1955. It consisted in showing specific people a certain episode X and asking them if its length is the same as the others that they saw in front of them, i.e. A, B and C. 98% of people gave the correct answer, saying that episode X is identical to the episode C.

The second part of the experiment involved a few more people entering the room. The subject of the experimentshe received information that, just like her, they are randomly gathered volunteers. In fact, they were paid actors who were to answer the first questions asked in front of the group truthfully. Then, with the last answer regarding the length of the above-mentioned segment X, they were to lie without pointing to the line C of the same length.

People who previously sat in the room also answered all the questions. At the end, in the face of the situation, where the actors were lying during the response, at least 2/3 of the group of unaware people changed their answer from the previous one, which was correct, to one that was indicated by the majority in the room.

Asch with this experiment wanted to prove that people are guided by conformism in their actions. In a situation where they risk deviating from the group in their views, behavior or even in answering questions, they prefer to adapt to the majority, despite having a different opinion on a specific matter.

4. Foam experiment

This experiment took place in Stanford, and it was carried out on a group of children who were found anew after many years. The whole thing was to leave the four-year-old alone for a quarter of an hour in a safe room. A moment before leaving the toddler, the initiators of the study put a plate of marshmallow next to him, i.e. a sweet sugar foam, and thoroughly informed the child about the principles of the project.

If they manage to refrain from eating the marshmallows, they will receive an additional reward after 15 minutes. In the experiment, emphasis was placed on rewarding the youngest for their obedience to adults and showing strong will at an early age. Not all children managed to stop them from eating the marshmallows immediately.

After conducting a community interview with these people, many years later, researchers came up with a thesis that people who are able to wait for a reward for their actions from an early age, achieve more in adulthood. First of all, in terms of he alth, these are usually people who are not overweight, work in good positions and pursue their goals. The opposite is true for a group that shows no signs of willpower at an early age.

5. Philip Zimbardo's experiment

Conducted in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford. This is one of the most famous experiments, called the prison experiment. It consisted in the fact that a group of volunteers, perfectly he althy men, form a makeshift prison from the basement of the university. Zimbardo then divides them into two groups, making one prisoner and the other guardsobjective. Everything has been planned to look as believable as possible.

Volunteers were arrested in their homes, unexpectedly. The guards were imposed a restriction on the care of order in the prison, but despite everything, they did not use violence against inmates. On the second day of the experiment, the prisoners revolted, ignoring the guards and their orders. In response to this, they began to apply pen alties, e.g. in the form of orders to do push-ups, heavy physical exercises, etc.

They humiliated colleagues over whom they had power at the moment. After a few days, prison staff became so sadistic in their behavior that some of the prisoners could not stand the situation nervously. Therefore, it was decided to stop the experiment.

Ultimately, it was supposed to last much longer, but its result and the speed with which certain human behaviors appeared in the experiment surprised even Zimbardo himself. This study proves how much people who suddenly gain power can change. Feeling superior to others, they are even able to apply sadistic practices to them.

6. The Harvard Experiment

This experiment lasted 75 years and it is one of the longest conducted psychological research. It involved about 300 Harvard students who regularly, every 2/3 years, completed detailed questionnaires about their lives. The questions pertained to virtually all possible levels: he alth, relationships, work, self-actualization, etc. After years of collecting answers, scientists discovered one very strong relationship between love and happiness in life.

Regardless of their financial situation, often even he alth, in the vast majority of people participating in the experiment, in a situation where they did not feel loved, they had a deficit of love on the part of their partner or family, it directly translated into gaining satisfaction from any life successes. They were unable to fully enjoy promotion at work, good he alth, and many other things when they lacked love to be completely happy. The thesis, which also clearly emerged during the study, was that the problem of alcohol in a relationship has a destructive effect on interpersonal relationships. It is also a direct and one of the most common causes of divorce and, as a result, loneliness and lack of love.

7. Jane Elliot's Experiment

Jane Elliot is a woman who from an early age tried to fight racism, as well as many other stereotypes functioning in people's minds. Her experiment is known as "blue-eyed". It is subject to severe criticism due to the fact thatused children to carry it out.

She divided the class into groups. A particularly privileged group are students who had blue eyes. Everyone with a different shade of iris formed the second group. The blue-eyed group said they deserved better treatment than others.

It only took one day for people with blue eyes to start to be taller. They not only emphasized their position, but were also rude to the others, and at times even cruel. In the second part of the experiment, Elliot reversed the roles of the groups to make the children aware of the utter nonsensicality of discrimination, for example on the basis of faith, skin color or eyes.

This experiment proved that if the environment tells someone that, for example, black people are worse, then with time they take it for granted. The same may be true of faith or position in society. Such divisions are never fair, but those who have been repeated similar claims over and over again take them for granted. Most often they clearly show their superiority. They do not feel the need to show people who are theoretically inferior to them. They can also be especially rude in their behavior towards those who are worse than themselves.

8. The Carolyn Wood Sherif Experiment

The Wood Sherif experiments involved dividing 12-year-old boys into 2 groups - each group went to a park camp in Oklahoma. At the beginning, scientists tried to emphasize the separateness between these two groups, fueling mutual competition between them. At the same time, they emphasized the internal integration of individual groups. After the confrontation in the competition took place, serious conflicts developed between the boys of the two camps over their negative attitudes towards each other.

Two groups integrated only when they had one common goal to achieve and it would be impossible without the cooperation of all people. Then they began to get along. What's more, the achievement of mutual success brought the two groups together so much that, on their own initiative, they wanted to go home together by one coach.

This experiment shows how much third persons and other life values, e.g. the implementation of separate goals, can make people different even from strangers. On the other hand, when striving to achieve a common goal, often one that requires many people, joint forces and cooperation, people integrate strongly, regardless of the beliefs and values ​​of the people they work with. Additionally, such groups are very strongly united by victory and success.

Category:

Psychology