What will happen if a boy is told for half his life that he is a girl? And if you torture a person with an electric current or force the subject to cut off the head of a living rat?
We've rounded up nine of the most violent and mindless psychological experiments in history.
1. Raising a boy as a girl (1965-2004)
As a result of an unsuccessful operation, 8-month-old Bruce Roemer lost his penis. Psychologist John Money from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (USA) recommended that parents put up with and raise the boy as a girl. So Bruce became Brenda, and John Money began to watch with interest. Everything turned out relatively well until the parents told the boy-girl the truth. Bruce's life was crippled, he tried to commit suicide three times. Still trying to return to normal life, he changed his name and even got married. However, it all ended tragically: after a divorce from his wife, he took his own life. He was 38 years old.
2. "The Source of Despair" (1960)
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Dr. Harry Harlow, fortunately, only practiced on monkeys. He took the cub from his mother and kept him alone for a whole year. After the baby returned to his mother, he showed serious mental abnormalities. However, the obvious conclusion - deprivation of maternal affection leads to problems - could be done in a less cruel way.
3. The Milgram Experiment (1974)
The experiment involved an experimenter, a subject, and an actor who played the role of another subject. Before starting the experiment, the "teacher" was explained that the main goal of the experiment was to discover new methods of memorizing information. A simple experiment on memorization turned into torture: for each incorrect answer, the experimental actor received an electric shock. In fact, there were no electric shocks, but after each error, the voltage "rose" by 15 volts. If the "teacher" refused, the experimenter insisted, explaining how important it was for science. The results were terrible: 65% of the "teachers" reached 450 volts. So Milgrem was able to prove that a person, being under the rule of authority, is able to perform an act that is absolutely incredible for him in ordinary life.
4. Acquired helplessness (1966)
Psychologists Mark Seligman and Steve Meyer have divided dogs into three groups. With the first, nothing happened, the dogs of the second group were electrocuted, but the blows could be stopped by pressing the lever, and the third was the most unlucky. They were also shocked, but it was impossible to avoid this. After a while, the cages of the third group were opened, but none of the dogs even tried to get out: they perceived suffering as something already inevitable.
5. "Awful experiment" (1939)
Wendell Johnson of the University of Iowa (USA) with his graduate student Mary Tudor in 1939 divided 22 orphans from Davenport into two groups. Some were told that their speech was impeccable, others that they stuttered monstrously. In fact, all the children spoke normally.
As a result, most children of the second group developed stuttering, which persisted for life.
6. Little Albert (1920)
For two months, 9-month-old Albert was shown a tame white rat, cotton wool, a Santa Claus mask with a beard, a white rabbit, etc. But then the doctor of psychology John Watson began to beat the metal plate with an iron hammer behind the child's back every time the boy touched the rat. As a result, Albert became afraid not only of the white rat, but also of cotton wool, Santa Claus and the white rabbit. The phobia stuck with him for life.
7. The Landis Experiments (1924)
Karin Landis of the University of Minnesota studied facial expressions in 1924. Landis showed his students something that could evoke strong emotions: he made young people sniff ammonia, listen to jazz, watch pornographic films and put their hands in buckets of frogs - and recorded facial expressions.
Landis then ordered the students to cut off the rat's head. Most of them agreed. It was not possible to find any patterns in facial expressions, but Landis rightly concluded that in a group, under the influence of authority, a person is capable of much.
8. Research on the effect of drugs on the body (1969)
A group of monkeys were taught to self-inject various drugs.
Monkeys who took cocaine began to suffer from convulsions and hallucinations - the poor animals pulled out their phalanges of their fingers. Those who consumed amphetamine pulled out all their fur, and animals that were exposed to the simultaneous action of cocaine and morphine died within two weeks of starting.
9. Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)
Psychologist Philip Zimbardo created a very realistic imitation of a prison in the basement of the psychology department, and divided the student volunteers (there were 24 of them) into "prisoners" and "guards."
At first, the students were confused, but the second day of the experiment put everything in its place: the uprising of the "prisoners" was brutally suppressed by the "guards".
Gradually, the control system became so stricter that the "prisoners" were not left alone even in the toilet. When the “prisoners” were asked what their names were, many of them gave their number. The "prisoners" got used to their roles so much that they began to feel like prisoners of a real prison, and the students who got the role of "guards" felt real sadistic emotions towards people who were good friends to them a few days ago.
The experiment was scheduled for two weeks, but was terminated ahead of schedule for ethical reasons.