6 Shocking Social Experiments !
From fear generation to the extent to which people follow orders, scientists approach all questions using experiments and the scientific process. Although some of these experiments are morally controversial, they are simple, insightful, and reveal a lot about human behavior in varying contexts and, at times, the findings challenge what we might normally think of ourselves. Let's take a look at some of these social experiments.
Little Albert - Can fears be conditioned?
In an attempt to determine if fear conditioning works on humans, John B. Watson created an experiment in the 1920s at the John Hopkins University in which he conditioned a nine year old boy to develop certain fears. Watson repeatedly produced loud noises that frightened the boy whenever he tried to touch a rat that was placed in the same room. Therefore, every time he saw the rat, the boy showed signs of fear and cried extensively. As this worked with other objects and animals, Watson was able to show that fears can be conditioned in human beings' minds.
In 1961, Albert Bandura conducted an experiment on child personality development, which proved how children learn through observation rather than personality being dictated by individuals' genes. The experiment divided nursery school children into three groups that were all exposed to an inflatable Bobo Doll, but the first group observed verbal and physical abuse from adults to the doll, the second observed passive behavior from adults towards the doll, and the last group was a control group. The results of the experiment showed that the first group later abused the Bobo doll in the same manner as the adults once did, unlike the others, which is a result of observational influence and of each subject's own genetic make up. (“Bobo Doll”)
The Bobo Doll Experiment - What affects personality development, genetics or societry?
By: Hana ElShiaty