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Psychologists know you have to be careful when you go poking around the human mind because you're never sure what you'll find there. A number of psychological experiments over the years have yielded terrifying conclusions about the subjects. Oh, we're not talking about the occasional psychopath who turns up. No, we're talking about you. The experiments speak for themselves: #5.
The Asch Conformity Experiment (1953)
The Setup:
Subjects were told that they would be taking part in a vision test, along with a handful of people. The participants were then shown pictures, and individually asked to answer very simple and obvious questions. The catch was that everybody else in the room other than the subject was in on it, and they were were told to give obviously wrong answers. So would the subject go against the crowd, even when the crowd was clearly and retardedly wrong?
The Result:
All they had to do was say which line on the right matched the one on the left. As you can see, Asch wasn't exactly asking these people to design the next space station. Really, the only way you could get the line questions honestly wrong is if you took two doses of LSD that morning and rubbed them directly on your eyeballs (which would have made for an even more awesome experiment, but we're getting off the point). Yet, sadly, 32 percent of subjects would answer incorrectly if they saw that three others in the classroom gave the same wrong answer. Even when the line was plainly off by a few inches, it didn't matter. One in three would follow the group right off the proverbial cliff.
What This Says About You:
"Well, it's a good thing I'm a rebellious non-conformist," many of you are saying. Of course, for virtually all of you, the next step is to find out what the other non-conformists are doing ...
... and make sure you conform to it perfectly.
"Wait, you're right! Surely we must rebel against this mindless herd mentality! Let's all take to the streets!"
#4.
The Good Samaritan Experiment (1973)
The Setup:
Their subjects were a group of seminary students. Half of the students were given the story of the Good Samaritan and asked to perform a sermon about it in another building. The other half were told to give a sermon about job opportunities in a seminary. As an extra twist, subjects were given different times that they had to deliver the sermon so that some would be in a hurry and others not. Then, on the way to the building, subjects would pass a person slumped in an alleyway, who looked to be in need of help. We like to think Darley and Batson beat the crap out of some random dude to make it more realistic, but sources say otherwise.
The Result:
In fact, if pressed for time, only 10 percent would stop to give any aid, even when they were on their way to give a sermon about how awesome it is for people to stop and give aid. Though to be fair, if you were late for a class, did your professor ever accept, "I had to stop and help a wounded traveler" as an excuse? Probably not unless you could produce the guy's blood-stained shirt as evidence.
What This Says About You:
... the truth is us common folk are just as likely to be hypocrites as the politicians. After all, it's much easier to talk to a room full of people about helping strangers than, say, actually touching a smelly and bleeding homeless man. So even pointing out their hypocrisy becomes a form of hypocrisy. And in case you thought these results were just restricted to hypocritical seminary students, turn on the news. Remember a few years ago when cameras captured at least a dozen cars refusing to stop for an injured woman laying in the road?
Just like the students, they all had to be somewhere. The drivers were presumably proud enough of themselves just for swerving to miss her, rather than squishing her like roadkill. Which brings us to ... #3.
Bystander Apathy Experiment (1968)
The Setup:
The two psychologists invited volunteers to take part in a discussion. They claimed that because the discussion would be extremely personal (probably asking about the size of their genitals or something) individuals would be separated in different rooms and talk to each other using an intercom. During the conversation, one of the members would fake an epileptic seizure, which could be heard on the speakers. We're not completely sure how they conveyed over the intercom that what was happening was a seizure, but we're assuming the words "Wow this is quite an epileptic seizure I'm having" were uttered.
The Result:
Well, they weren't done. When the experiment was altered so that subjects believed four other people were in the discussion, only 31 percent went to look for help once the seizure began. The rest assumed someone else would take care of it. So the phrase, "The more, the merrier" somehow got lost in translation because the correct expression should be, "The more, the higher probability that you will die if you have a seizure."
What This Says About You:
This sheds some light on our previous examples. Maybe the drivers who swerved around the injured woman in the road would have stopped if they'd been alone on a deserted highway. Then again, maybe they'd be even more likely to abandon her since they know nobody is watching (unlike the people in the experiment, who at least knew there were others around to judge their actions). Or maybe it comes down to just how plausible an excuse we can make for ourselves. "Surely someone will come along and save the lady in the road," we say. Or, "Surely someone else will do something about the environment," or "Surely the shark will get full and stop eating that dude at some point." We just need the slightest excuse to do nothing. |
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"odds are you won't stick it to The Man" -- what does that mean? who is this The Man?
It's the establishment, man.
Always good to see some love for the original Dr. Phil.
PUPPY D:
@ Milgram Experiment. I know this is an old article, but it's not volts that kill you, it's the amps. That's why 1,000,000+ volt stun guns are "Non-lethal". If you liken electricity to a flowing liquid, Volts would = "speed", and Amps would = "volume". BASK IN THE GLORY OF MY TRIVIAL AND UNTIMELY KNOWLEDGE AND/OR PERISH!!!
No... volts would be volume, amps would be the speed.
But amperage is directly proportional to Voltage via V=IR (voltage = current times resistance). if the resistance in the system (ie your body) is the same the higher the voltage, the higher the current.
I've never met a 16 year old electrician before.
This makes me proud to be a psychologist.
Oh, and you forgot the Bobo doll experiment. Got to get them young, you know...
I
The guy in charge of #2 clearly just wanted some S&M play. There's hardly anything hiding that.
I learned about some of this in a Genocide course, crazy stuff it is. The Milgram experiment though, had two other versions, one where you were in the room with the victem, and had to force his hand on a pad to be electricuted. Another where there was another subject in the room who opposed the man in the coat.
These also didn't go well.
Human beings have the capacity for all sorts of good and bad, and that is all there is to it. We are a big mesh of gray area interwoven with those that truly are courageous enough to be willing to be ALONE and IN PAIN to stand up for what they believe in, and those on the opposite side of the spectrum. We are all driven by whatever it is we think. So, think positive.
Sure, THAT'S what this proves. Or maybe there is no black or white or even gray. Maybe the universe is just amoral and once your out of the "kill or be killed" stage as a species, you just get bored and sadistic.
Or think positive, I'm sure that works too. No such thing as a happy killer. It's not like the 2 columbine shooters had great big smiles on their faces while they shot honor role students and even a mentally handicapped kid (this is sarcasm of course, they had a great time with it)
FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!
I am totally bringing this s**t up next time I here one of those highschoolers talk about being a "conformists" and "sheeple"
We are pretty much all the same, whether we like it or not.
One of the prisoners was in Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment actually had a complete mental breakdown and had to be taken out of the program after several days. I saw a doc*mentary about it in an intro to psych class and Zimbardo just kept going "the results were so fascinating" while his girlfriend stares on in abject horror.
Seriously? This d*****t writer just copied out the various experiments used by psychologists through out the century out of INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY book. I mean come on! they are even in the same damn order.
lol, i'd like to see that book
I'd torture the s**t out of a puppy just for the hell of it. No guy in lab coat required.
That's so cr - nah who am I kidding, I'd set the little bastards on fire.
What a weak ass trolling attempt.
I don't get why people think the Stanford experiment was crazy to begin with? It is something that definitely needed to be studied and it is sick to me that we completely ignored the results in the real world. I am studying Psychology and when I read about it it didn't come off quite the same as it did in this article.
Yes, the experiment got completely crazy but I don't think they forsaw it getting quite so bad. The real insanity is that we keep prisons this way. Of course, I'm not sure how we can ensure this doesn't happen but it is crazy.
oh, and I am 100% sure I would NOT shock a puppy lol I won't even let my fiance use a bark collar on one of our dogs... I'll be damned if I'll shock one myself.
What country are you from that keeps prisoners this way? The prison system is screwed up but we don't deny them the right to pee and make them lay down naked in their own s**t.
I'm comforted by the fact that even if Christina Maslach married Zimbardo, at least the chances of their kid being crazy like Zimbardo were only 50%.
re: article: I ain't needin any experiments, I know that for some time.
The Stanford experiment had less to do with role playing than it did on how easy it is to break a person down. The research was paid for by the US Navy
Not to brag, but I think I would be an outlier for the shocking experiment. Mostly because I'm a terrible listener.
Yeah, I'd like to tell myself that I'd be one of those oddballs who says "hey waitaminute, this ain't right...I'ma gonna be a hero!!" But let's be honest: I probably wouldn't.
I think the Apathy experiment is the reason why people trained in first aid are taught to single someone out and say "YOU, in the green shirt, call 911," instead of saying "someone call 911." Everyone assumes someone else will do it.
"Really, the only way you could get the line questions honestly wrong is if you took two doses of LSD that morning and rubbed them directly on your eyeballs (which would have made for an even more awesome experiment, but we're getting off the point)."
What are you waiting for, Cracked?! Get on it!
"Think about that when you're walking around the mall: Eight out of ten of those people you see would torture the shit out of a puppy if a dude in a lab coat asked them to."
That is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever read in my life, and I once read "Old Yeller."