Classic Experiments In Psychology

The typical survey course in psychology has time for only limited presentation of the research on which our knowledge is based. As a result, many students come away with a limited understanding of the role of experiments in psychological science. Where do experiments come from and how are they conducted? What are the pitfalls and how can we avoid them? What advantages do they have over intuition, authority, and common sense as guides to knowing and acting? What distinguishes research-based psychology from psychobabble? What have we learned from experimentation in psychology? This book presents, in more depth than textbook treatment permits, the background, conduct, and implications of a selection of classic experiments in psychology. The selection is designed to be diverse, showing that even for research in vastly different areas of study, the logic of research remains the same—as do its traps and pitfalls. This book will broaden and deepen the understanding of experimental methods in psychological research, examining where the research questions come from, how questions can be turned into experiments, and how researchers have faced the problems presented by research in psychology.

Social Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies is brought together by some of the world's leading voices in this rich and historically significant sub-field of psychology. Since the end of the second world war, numerous studies have entered the canon of what we now understand to be 'classical', from Milgram's 'shocking' obedience study, to Latané and Darley's bystander intervention studies to Zimbardo's now famous, controversial Stanford Prison experiment. This title provides a telescopic lens back to the past when investigations first began, then to the present day when new light is shining on these key pieces of research, to present a contemporary assessment of all aspects of social behavior.

1. Biology and Human Behavior. One Brain or Two, Gazzaniga, M.S. (1967). The split brain in man. More Experience = Bigger Brain? Rosenzweig, M.R., Bennett, E.L. & Diamond M.C. (1972). Brain changes in response to experience. Are You a Natural? Bouchard, T., Lykken, D., McGue, M., Segal N., & Tellegen, A. (1990). Sources of human psychological difference: The Minnesota study of twins raised apart. Watch Out for the Visual Cliff! Gibson, E.J., & Walk, R.D. (1960). The visual cliff. 2. Perception and Consciousness. What You See Is What You've Learned. Turnbull C.M. (1961). Some observations regarding the experience and behavior of the BaMuti Pygmies. To Sleep, No Doubt to Dream... Aserinsky, E. & Kleitman, N. (1953). Regularly occurring periods of eye mobility and concomitant phenomena during sleep. Dement W. (1960). The effect of dream deprivation. Unromancing the Dream... Hobson, J.A. & McCarley, R.W. (1977). The brain as a dream-state generator: An activation-synthesis hypothesis of the dream process. Acting as if You Are Hypnotized Spanos, N.P. (1982). Hypnotic behavior: A cognitive, social, psychological perspective. 3. Learning and Conditioning. It's Not Just about Salivating Dogs! Pavlov, I.P.(1927). Conditioned reflexes. Little Emotional Albert. Watson J.B. & Rayner, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional responses. Knock Wood. Skinner, B.F. (1948). Superstition in the pigeon. See Aggression...Do Aggression! Bandura, A., Ross, D. & Ross, S.A. (1961). Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models. 4. Intelligence, Cognition, and Memory. What You Expect Is What You Get. Rosenthal, R. & Jacobson, L. (1966). Teacher's expectancies: Determinates of pupils' IQ gains. Just How are You Intelligent? H. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. Maps in Your Mind. Tolman, E.C. (1948). Cognitive maps in rats and men. Thanks for the Memories. Loftus, E.F. (1975). Leading questions and the eyewitness report. 5. Human Development. Discovering Love. Harlow, H.F.(1958). The nature of love. Out of Sight, but Not Out of Mind. Piaget, J. (1954). The construction of reality in the child: The development of object concept. How Moral are You? Kohlberg, L.., (1963). The development of children's orientations toward a moral order: Sequence in the development of moral thought. In Control and Glad of It! Langer, E.J. & Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. 6. Emotion and Motivation. A Sexual Motivation... Masters, W.H. & Johnson, V.E. (1966). Human sexual response. I Can See It All Over Your Face! Ekman, P. & Friesen, V.W. (1971). Constants across cultures in the face and emotion. Life, Change, and Stress. Holmes, T.H. & Rahe, R.H. (1967). The Social Readjustment Rating Scale. Thoughts Out of Tune. Festinger, L. & Carlsmith, J.M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. 7. Personality. Are You the Master of Your Fate? Rotter, J.B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Masculine or Feminine or Both? Bem, S.L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Racing Against Your Heart. Friedman, M. & Rosenman, R.H. (1959). Association of specific overt behavior pattern with blood and cardiovascular findings. The One; The Many..., Triandis, H., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M., Asai, M. & Lucca, N. (1988). Individualism and collectivism: Cross-cultural perspectives on self-ingroup relationships. 8. Psychopathology. Who's Crazy Here, Anyway? Rosenhan, D.L. (1973). On Being sane in insane places. Learning to Be Depressed. Seligman, M.E.P., & Maier, S.F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock. You're Getting Defensive Again! Freud, A. (1946). The ego and mechanisms of defense. Crowding into the Behavioral Sink. Calhoun, J.B. (1962). Population density and social pathology. 9. Psychotherapy. Choosing Your Psychotherapist. Smith, M.L. & Glass, G.V. (1977). Meta-analysis of psychotherapy outcome studies. Relaxing Your Fears Away. Wolpe, J. (1961). The systematic desensitization of neuroses. Projections of Who You Are. Rorschach, H. (1942). Psychodiagnostics: A diagnostic test based on perception. Picture This! Murray, H.A. (1938). Explorations in personality. 10. Social Psychology. Not Practicing What You Preach. LaPiere, R.T. (1934). Attitudes and actions. The Power of Conformity. Asch, S.E. (1955). Opinions and social pressure. To Help or Not to Help. Darley, J.M. & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Obey at Any Cost. Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience.

When social psychologist Stanley Milgram invited volunteers to take part in an experiment at Yale in the summer of 1961, none of the participants could have foreseen the worldwide sensation that the published results would cause. Milgram reported that fully 65 percent of the volunteers had repeatedly administered electric shocks of increasing strength to a man they believed to be in severe pain, even suffering a life-threatening heart condition, simply because an authority figure had told them to do so. Such behavior was linked to atrocities committed by ordinary people under the Nazi regime and immediately gripped the public imagination. The experiments remain a source of controversy and fascination more than fifty years later. In Behind the Shock Machine, psychologist and author Gina Perry unearths for the first time the full story of this controversial experiment and its startling repercussions. Interviewing the original participants—many of whom remain haunted to this day about what they did—and delving deep into Milgram's personal archive, she pieces together a more complex picture and much more troubling picture of these experiments than was originally presented by Milgram. Uncovering the details of the experiments leads her to question the validity of that 65 percent statistic and the claims that it revealed something essential about human nature. Fleshed out with dramatic transcripts of the tests themselves, the book puts a human face on the unwitting people who faced the moral test of the shock machine and offers a gripping, unforgettable tale of one man's ambition and an experiment that defined a generation.

Even if you have no background in experimentation, this clear, straightforward book can help you design, execute, interpret, and report simple experiments in psychology. David W. Martin's unique blend of informality, humor, and solid scholarship have made this concise book a popular choice for methods courses in psychology. Doing Psychology Experiments guides you through the experimentation process in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step manner. Decision-making aspects of research are emphasized, and the logic behind research procedures is fully explained.

A part of Harper Perennial’s special “Resistance Library” highlighting classic works that illuminate our times: A special edition reissue of Stanley Milgram’s landmark examination of humanity’s susceptibility to authoritarianism. “The classic account of the human tendency to follow orders, no matter who they hurt or what their consequences.” — Washington Post Book World In the 1960s, Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram famously carried out a series of experiments that forever changed our perceptions of morality and free will. The subjects—or “teachers”—were instructed to administer electroshocks to a human “learner,” with the shocks becoming progressively more powerful and painful. Controversial but now strongly vindicated by the scientific community, these experiments attempted to determine to what extent people will obey orders from authority figures regardless of consequences. “Milgram’s experiments on obedience have made us more aware of the dangers of uncritically accepting authority,” wrote Peter Singer in the New York Times Book Review. With an introduction from Dr. Philip Zimbardo, who conducted the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, Obedience to Authority is Milgram’s fascinating and troubling chronicle of his classic study and a vivid and persuasive explanation of his conclusions.

Revisiting the Classic Studies is a series of texts that introduces readers to the studies in psychology that changed the way we think about core topics in the discipline today. It provokes students to ask more interesting and challenging questions about the field by encouraging a deeper level of engagement both with the details of the studies themselves and with the nature of their contribution. Edited by leading scholars in their field and written by researchers at the cutting edge of these developments, the chapters in each text provide details of the original works and their theoretical and empirical impact, and then discuss the ways in which thinking and research has advanced in the years since the studies were conducted. Brain and Behaviour: Revisiting the Classic Studies traces 17 ground-breaking studies by researchers such as Gage, Luria, Sperry, and Tulving to re-examine and reflect on their findings and engage in a lively discussion of the subsequent work that they have inspired. Suitable for students on neuropsychology courses at all levels, as well as anyone with an enquiring mind.