What do you think of these psych experiments?
Asked by
fujivelo (
480
)
March 31st, 2011
In the Stanford prison experiment they basically had a bunch of normal healthy collage students act out the roles of prisoners and guards. Eventually not only the participants but the psychologist himself became corrupt.
In Milgram’s experiment he wanted to see if, when told to by a man in a white lab coat, a person would deliver a lethal shock to another person
stanford prison
milgram’s
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
6 Answers
Umm, how did Zimbardo become corrupt? They stopped the experiment well before they intended because of the outcomes, and even since the Stanford Prison Experiment, he’s been a very successful and respected researcher.
And for Milgram: no one was ever in danger, and it gave great insight into authority and what people would do if told to by someone with a lab coat. It has been replicated several times with a slightly modified method, yielding the same results. It was a very important study.
I think they were extremely valuable in showing us some truths about ourselves that most of us might not have expected and would probably find hard to believe without such proof (although I suspect they are things that people who truly do wield power corruptly have always known).
We do well to know what we are capable of; underestimating such things could cost us dearly in real loss, not just marks in an experimenter’s log.
I thought that it would be neat to participate in one of these experiments.
I think they’re disturbing in that they’re so clear on expressing how settings, and arguably the setting of our culture, facilitates and encourages anti-social behavior of extreme sorts.
Experiments like that need to be carefully monitored for safety and humane treatment of participants, but I’m in favor.
Answer this question 
Composing members:
0
