There are various psychological experiments out there that have been conducted by scientists to give us an insight into human behaviour. There's the Asch Experiment, the Standford Prison Experiment, The Milgram Experiment...
Is the Little Albert Experiment ethical? (It's based on the Pavlov's Response)
Say why or why not.
2 comments:
Wow, All these experiments are utterly staggering! I had read about some of them but never came across such detailed accounts of the volunteers' experiences.
No, the Little Albert Experiment isn't the most ethical one, but that doesn't mean we should have put a halt to it.
What bothers me about the Little Albert Experiment, as compared to the Stanford prison experiment, is that in former experiment, the volunteers had a choice. They chose to volunteer in an experiment and were given a broad outline of what to expect. However, baby Albert is merely an infant with no understanding of the circumstance he is put in. As long as it does not leave any permanent marks on his psychology and behavior, I believe it is acceptable.
But on the brighter side, the experiment has uncovered a fair amount of the human behavior, just like many others have. In the complex society that we live in today, with all the innumerable types of interactions that human beings have with one another, such experiments are of utmost significance.
It scary to realise how subject we are to our environment and how we react to such conditioning experiments. Even adults could be 'conditioned' to submit or follow large multinational corporations or various governmental parties as these studies of human behaviour could be used against us, altering our ideas and beliefs against our will and without us knowing.
In regards to the experiment, I believe that it should not leave any lasting psychological trauma or induce future phobias upon the poor, unsuspecting Albert, as that indeed would be unethical, but a very intriguing experiment, nonetheless.
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