Psychological Experiments |
Evaluation
Knowledge Gained: The Little Albert Experiment resulted in the most amount of knowledge gained because it changed many ways of thinking in psychology as well as help people to understand why certain fears exist. The Milgram Obedience Experiment result in the gain of why people act the way they do, but failed to change any major principles in psychology. The Stanford Prison Experiment resulted in the least amount of knowledge gained because its findings are limited and apply to very few situations.
Impact: The Milgram Obedience Experiment had the most impact; the results of this experiment helped to decide the fate of many war criminals who were on trial in Nuremburg. The Little Albert Experiment had a slightly less major impact directly in that it had no effect on society; however, its results did change many principles in psychology as well as begin a whole new branch of psychology: behaviorism. The Stanford Prison Experiment had the least amount of impact because its findings did not truly impact society as a whole, nor change any major ways of thinking.
Ethics: The Milgram Obedience Experiment ranked as the most ethical because the subjects were volunteers and there were no true psychological effects that the experiment caused or could have caused. The Stanford Prison Experiment came next because the subjects were volunteers, but they began to suffer what could have been severe psychological effects when the experiment was shut down. The Little Albert Experiment was the most unethical because the subject was not a volunteer and was a child; also, the child was never deconditioned and had the child grown up (he died around age six from hydrocephalus), he would have shown severe psychological disturbances.
Real-World Application: The Milgram Obedience Experiment ranked the highest in this category because its sole purpose was that of a real-world application – to determine if the defense war criminals gave had any validity. The Little Albert Experiment came next because this discovery of how fears become ingrained helped people to understand why people react to situations the way they do. The Stanford Prison Experiment ranked last in this category because its purpose was to determine why prison behavior occurs and not a true purpose outside of that; however, its findings can be applied outside the prison setting.