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Why should the Milgram authority experiment not be taught? If nothing else it's suggestive and might inspire new studies. The fact that the original design woul
by walleeee 5y ago
Why should the Milgram authority experiment not be taught? If nothing else it's suggestive and might inspire new studies. The fact that the original design wouldn't pass a modern IRB doesn't mean the phenomenon is forever closed to investigation
- scoofy 5y agoYes, of course, the Milgram experiment can be taught as a tragedy and a lesson in experimental ethics. But it's "correct results" are almost always taught, even being published as a pop-science book, when they cannot be know because the experiment is too ethically problematic to be replicated in a modern setting. Ironically, the "correct results" are often cited as the reason for the tragic suicide of one of the participants.
- walleeee 5y agoI'm just having trouble with "almost always" Any psychologist worth their salt knows better than to claim any interpretation of experimental results as unassailable Pop science is another story (literally) but the profs I've had the privilege of studying under spent a lot of time warning us against the shoddy reasoning you describe Psychology has a lot of bullshit in its orbit but the discipline as taught in quality departments is just that, disciplined
- scoofy 5y agoI don't mean to impugn the study of psychology in the slightest. Only that i find it maddening that obviously unfalsifiable results are taught as though they can teach us anything about human behavior. I hope you are right and I am wrong, I was taught these experiments this way at a good school, i can only hope that is more uncommon than i think it is.
- walleeee 5y agoFair enough- and agreed. I hope so too.
- sebws 5y agoI couldn't find anything about a participant's suicide when searching, could you provide a link?
- scoofy 5y agoI remember that from college but maybe I’m misremembering or maybe I’m simply wrong. After a brief look around, I also couldn’t find anything about harm to the participants.
- skywal_l 5y agoNobody was harmed in the Milgram experiment. That's the whole point of the experiment. It is to fake harm. The one seemingly receiving the electric shock is an actor faking pain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
- scoofy 5y agoI’m talking about the people who believed they were shocking the actor. That experience could easily create mental trauma.