Caris McKee-Shell
A brief insight into some of the most influential psychology studies of all time.
Psychology is the study of people and their minds, and how abnormalities and changes affect their behaviour. This allows us to further understand people, why they behave the way that they do, and if this can be manipulated and changed. This article will explore some of the most popular, influential, and groundbreaking experiments of all time.
Pavlov (1972) - Classical Conditioning
The term conditioned means that something is learned and adapted. This could be affected by external factors, internal factors, or a combination of both. Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, made one of the most famously recognised psychology studies of all time, often referred to as ‘Pavlov's Dogs’.
When studying a dog, Pavlov observed that when the dog heard the food buckets for its meal, it began to salivate, before even seeing the food. Salivation is the response that usually occurs when the food is in the dog’s mouth, and so he concluded that dogs had adapted and learned to salivate at a new event - in this case, the sound of the food buckets.
From this point he began to investigate if the stage of salivation could be altered. He began to ring a bell each time the dog was fed and then measured how much saliva was produced. Eventually, he rang the bell but didn’t feed the dog, and discovered that the saliva produced was the same as when the food was given. Therefore, this proved his theory of classical conditioning - a type of learning that happens unconsciously in response to a specific event.
Following this he discovered two other subtopics within classical conditioning - extinction and spontaneous recovery.
He continued to ring the bell, without presenting any food and after a short amount of time the dog stopped salivating. He called this extinction.
Then he stopped ringing the bell and after another short period, he randomly rang the bell and the dog began salivating. This, he decided to call spontaneous recovery.
He also recognised that the dog would salivate at any bell, which he called generalisation because the animal had a widened response. He created discrimination between the bells by playing a range of different pitches and only administrating food at one sound - the dog began to only salivate at this sound. This shows how animals can be manipulated by classical conditioning.
Watson and Rayner (1920) - Conditioning fear
Watson and Rayner actually discovered conditioning before Pavlov, and though their experiment may be less well known, it is extremely memorable due to its cruel and unethical substance.
As opposed to a dog, the psychologists used an 11 month old child named Albert. When given a white lab rat, he was seen to like it and had no immediate responses of fear. During the trials, the same rat was shown to Albert. When he reached for it, a metal bar was struck behind his head, emanating a loud noise.
After seven trials, Albert screamed and was evidently fearful of the rat when presented with it again, as he subconsciously correlated the loud noise with the rat. He also reacted in the same way to a Santa Claus mask and a fur coat.
Clearly this experiment has faced a lot of criticism, and was only permitted because of the lack of ethical objections and obstructions at this time. If nothing else, this child could carry these fears throughout the remainder of his life without reverse.
The real name of the child was Douglas Merritte, and he died at the age of 6 in 1925.
Zimbardo (1969) - Deindividuation
The term deindividuation refers to how people lose their sense of individuality. Zimbardo investigated how people in a big city behaved to those in a small town.
A car was parked in two places - one in New York, and the other in Palo Alto. The bonnet was put up, as if the car had broken down, and Zimbardo observed the behaviour of those in these cities when they came across the car over two weeks.
In New York, the car was stripped and sold for parts, with barely any of it left at the end of the experiment. In Palo Alto, the only time the car was even touched was when it began to rain and a passerby put the bonnet down, to prevent the car engine from getting wet. This shows how people behave and the things they find acceptable in different areas. They often lose their sense of individuality in a large city, where they can be lost among the crowds and follow the things everyone else deems acceptable.
Hofling (1966) - Status
Hofling intended to study how people would respond to an unreasonable order when given by someone with authority.
For the experiment he contacted 22 nurses individually by phone and claimed to be a doctor. Then, when he instructed them to administer a drug to a patient that was twice the maximum dosage; he evaluated how many followed. 21/22 agreed to give the drug despite knowing it was over the maximum dosage and should not have taken authority from someone over the phone.
This shows that the nurses were likely to always follow the instructions of a doctor without challenging them due to their status, even when it may have negative repercussions for patients and their own reputation. This experiment was carried out many years ago, and due to an increase in regulations and safety protocols, would be unlikely to have the same results in hospitals today. However it does still demonstrate how people will be subservient to those of a higher status and does apply to common behaviours that still occur.
These studies are enticing, confusing and harrowing, often displaying the harsh reality that people can be manipulated and changed indefinitely. Psychology is often deemed to be a ‘soft science’, though clearly the investigations and experiments of the psychologists proved many facts and common behaviours of people that have been influential on society today. As previously mentioned, many of these experiments would no longer be able to go ahead, due to the changes in safety measures and risks for people's mental or physical health. Some were highly unethical, such as in the case of Watson and Rayner's experiment on Albert, but without them we wouldn’t have such a developed understanding of the human mind as we do today.
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