Thanks toethical codesand institutional review boards, most of these experiments could never be performed today.
The experiments were often shockingly cruel, and the results were just as devastating.
One of the surrogate mothers was made purely of wire.
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While it provided food, it offered no softness or comfort.
This was essentially an isolation chamber.
Young monkeys were placed in the isolation chambers for as long as 10 weeks.
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Other monkeys were isolated for as long as a year.
The Results
Harlow’s distressing research resulted in monkeys with severe emotional and social disturbances.
They lacked social skills and were unable to play with other monkeys.
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The isolated monkeys were tied down in a mating position to be bred.
Social psychologistStanley Milgramconducted a series of experiments to explore the nature ofobedience.
The maximum shock level was simply labeled with an ominous “XXX.”
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The results of the experiment were nothing short of astonishing.
Participants were thenrandomly assignedto be either prisoners or guards.
Zimbardo himself served as the prison warden.
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Because the prison guards had started abusing their authority and were treating the prisoners cruelly.
The prisoners, on the other hand, started to display signs of anxiety and emotional distress.
Maslach was appalled at what was going on and voiced her distress.
Zimbardo then decided to call off the experiment.
Obviously, this jot down of experiment is considered very controversial today.
Frightening an infant and purposely conditioning the child to be afraid is clearly unethical.
If this is true, it makes Watson’s study even more disturbing and controversial.
However, more recent evidence suggests that the real Little Albert was actually a boy named William Albert Barger.
Seligman and Maier observed some unexpected results.
Next, the dogs were strapped into a harness where the shocks were unavoidable.
Instead of jumping over the low barrier to escape, the dogs made no efforts to escape the box.
Instead, they simply lay down, whined and whimpered.
Since they had previously learned that no escape was possible, they made no effort to change their circumstances.
The researchers called this behaviorlearned helplessness.
Seligman’s work is considered controversial because of the mistreating the animals involved in the study.
Blum, Deborah.Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the science of affection.
New York: Basic Books; 2011.
Sperry L.Mental Health and Mental Disorders: an Encyclopedia of Conditions, Treatments, and Well-Being.
Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC; 2016.
Le Texier T.Debunking the Stanford Prison Experiment.Am Psychol.
2014;69(6):600611. doi:10.1037/a0036854
Seligman ME.Learned helplessness.Annu Rev Med.
