Psychology has always been a fascinating science, but some of the experiments conducted in the past were downright terrifying.

These experiments were designed to study human behavior and the impact of different situations and circumstances on the human mind. Some of them were successful in achieving their objectives, while others were stopped due to ethical concerns. Here are the 10 most terrifying psychological experiments of all time:.

The Milgram Experiment

The Milgram experiment was conducted in 1963 by Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University. The objective of the experiment was to study the obedience of ordinary people to authority figures, even when the orders given violated their moral code.

The participants were instructed to administer increasingly higher electric shocks to a confederate who was pretending to be in pain.

The shocks were not actually administered, but the participants believed that they were. The experiment showed that people are willing to obey orders even when they conflict with their moral beliefs, leading to serious ethical concerns.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was conducted in 1971 by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The objective of the experiment was to study the behavior of individuals in a prison setting.

The subjects were randomly assigned the roles of prisoners and guards and were placed in a simulated prison environment.

The guards became abusive and cruel, leading to the psychological breakdown of some of the prisoners. The experiment was terminated early due to ethical concerns, showing the power of situational factors in human behavior.

The Little Albert Experiment

The Little Albert experiment was conducted in 1920 by psychologists John Watson and Rosalie Rayner. The objective of the experiment was to study the conditioning of fear responses in humans.

They selected a 9-month-old baby named Albert and subjected him to loud noises while he was playing with a white rat.

After several pairings, Albert developed a fear of the white rat and other similar objects, showing the power of classical conditioning. The experiment was terminated early due to ethical concerns, and the long-term effects on Albert are unknown.

The Monster Study

The Monster Study was conducted in 1939 by Wendell Johnson, a speech pathologist at the University of Iowa. The objective of the experiment was to study the effects of negative speech therapy on children’s self-esteem.

The study selected 22 orphan children and divided them into two groups.

One group received positive speech therapy, while the other received negative speech therapy. The children who received negative therapy showed a significant decrease in their self-esteem.

The experiment was stopped due to ethical concerns, and some of the children were permanently scarred by the experience.

The Asch Conformity Experiment

The Asch conformity experiment was conducted in 1951 by psychologist Solomon Asch. The objective of the experiment was to study the effects of group pressure on conformity.

The participants were shown a line and then asked to identify which of the three lines matched it.

When the rest of the group purposely gave wrong answers, the participants also gave incorrect responses, highlighting the effects of social influence on individual behavior.

The Bobo Doll Experiment

The Bobo doll experiment was conducted in 1961 by psychologist Albert Bandura. The objective of the experiment was to study the effects of observing violent behavior on children.

The experiment showed that children who were exposed to violent behavior were more likely to exhibit violent behavior themselves.

It was a controversial study, and Bandura faced criticism for potentially harming the children who were exposed to the experiment.

The Rosenhan Experiment

The Rosenhan experiment was conducted in 1973 by psychologist David Rosenhan. The objective of the experiment was to study the validity of psychiatric diagnosis.

The study involved eight healthy individuals, who pretended to have auditory hallucinations in order to gain admission to psychiatric hospitals.

All of the individuals were diagnosed with a mental illness and were given medication. The experiment showed that psychiatric diagnosis is often subjective and can lead to misdiagnosis and overmedication.

The Harlow Monkey Experiment

The Harlow monkey experiment was conducted in 1958 by psychologist Harry Harlow. The objective of the experiment was to study the effects of maternal separation on monkeys.

The experiment involved separating newborn monkeys from their mothers and providing them with a surrogate mother made of wire or cloth.

The monkeys who were given the cloth mother showed less stress and aggressive behavior than those who were given the wire mother. The experiment highlighted the importance of emotional bonds and nurturing in infant development.

The Skinner Box Experiment

The Skinner box experiment was conducted in 1947 by B.F. Skinner. The objective of the experiment was to study how reinforcement affects behavior.

The study involved placing rats in a box and providing them with a lever that would dispense food when pressed.

The rats quickly learned to press the lever, demonstrating the power of positive reinforcement on behavior. The experiment led to the development of operant conditioning.

The Harrowing Experiments of Josef Mengele

While not a psychological experiment in the traditional sense, Josef Mengele’s experiments on concentration camp prisoners during World War II were some of the most terrifying and inhumane experiments in history.

Mengele was a physician who performed gruesome medical experiments on prisoners in order to advance Nazi ideology.

He subjected his victims to excruciating surgeries without anesthesia, injected them with deadly diseases, and performed experiments on twins in order to study genetics.

His experiments killed countless prisoners and left survivors permanently scarred both physically and psychologically.

Conclusion

These experiments were conducted in order to better understand human behavior, but their methods were often unethical and inhumane. While they did provide insights into the human psyche, they also left a trail of psychological trauma in their wake.

It is important to remember these experiments as a cautionary tale of the ethical boundaries that must be observed in research.