10 Psychological Experiments You Would Never Believe Happened

We humans, as social creatures, are constantly trying to understand each other. This makes sense, as being able to get along with one another is beneficial, helping to make life easier and more sustainable. One of the ways we've tried to acquire this understanding is through research.

The Difficulty of Studying Human Behavior

Due to our complexities, many different experiments have been held to see if our assumptions about human behavior are correct. While most of these experiments were conducted ethically and within accepted guidelines, there have also been instances where the pursuit of scientific knowledge has resulted in ethically questionable and controversial experiments.

Even so, these missteps have still opened doors to new knowledge. Here are some of the most notorious psychological experiments that have been conducted:

1. The Beneficial Brainwashing Experiment

The title "beneficial brainwashing" seems like an oxymoron, but this experiment conducted by Dr. Donald Cameron in the 1950s and 1960s aimed to rewire people's thinking patterns to be healthier. Subjects were forced to listen to looped audio messages for extended periods, in the belief that this would allow the messages to be directly absorbed by the psyche and create new thought patterns. This technique, called "psychic driving," was inspired by early advertisements that claimed people could learn while they slept.

2. The Stanford Prison Experiment

Have you ever had a friend surprise you with uncharacteristically poor behavior? Psychologist Philip Zimbardo questioned whether assigned roles could significantly influence our treatment of others. In his 1971 Stanford prison study, he assigned roles of prisoners and guards to random participants. Shockingly, it only took six days for the "guards" to start abusing the "prisoners," who in turn submitted to the pseudo-authority. The experiment had to be abandoned due to the psychological harm it caused to the participants, highlighting the power of situational influences on our behavior.

3. The Blue Eyed/Brown Eyed Experiment

Teacher Jane Elliott's 1968 experiment explored the impact of discrimination on children. She divided her students into two groups based on eye color (blue and brown) and assigned privileges to one group while treating the other poorly. The favored group displayed superior behavior and academic performance, while the disadvantaged group became more timid and struggled in school. When the roles were reversed the next day, the effects were not as strong, demonstrating the lasting impact of the initial discrimination.

4. The Monster Study

Wendell Johnson's 1939 experiment on stuttering in orphans is considered highly unethical. He divided the children into groups, praising some for fluency and belittling others for any imperfections in their speech. The negative feedback group experienced significant psychological harm, including a loss of self-esteem and social withdrawal, highlighting the importance of ethical considerations in research, especially when involving vulnerable populations.

5. The Milgram Experiment

Stanley Milgram's 1961 experiment examined obedience to authority figures. In this experiment, participants were instructed to administer electric shocks (fake) to a learner (an actor) for providing wrong answers in a memory test. Despite the increasing intensity of the shocks and the learner's pleas, around two-thirds of the participants continued to follow the experimenter's instructions, raising concerns about the potential for blind obedience to authority to override our moral compass.

10. The Experiment of the Ape and the Child

Winthrop Kellogg's 1931 experiment attempted to raise a chimpanzee named Gua alongside his infant son Donald to see if Gua could learn human speech and behavior. While Gua displayed higher intelligence, she did not develop human speech. Conversely, Donald's speech development was negatively impacted as he began imitating Gua's vocalizations. This experiment highlights the fundamental differences in development between chimpanzees and humans, regardless of the environment.

Conclusion

These psychological experiments, regardless of their ethical considerations, have contributed significantly to our understanding of human behavior. They continue to spark debate and encourage us to critically examine our assumptions about ourselves and the world around us.

What do you think of these studies? What would you do differently if you were to design a similar experiment? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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