In the pursuit of understanding the human mind, researchers have taken quite a few questionable turns. Essentially, the scientists were so focused on the end goal that they forgot to ask themselves if what they were doing was okay. Let’s look at 10 psychological experiments that really pushed the envelope. And not in a good way.
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The Stanford Prison Experiment
In 1971, scientists set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University, where students played guards and prisoners. Unfortunately, things got way out of hand and the “guards” got too into their roles – making life rather miserable for the “prisoners.” It was meant to last two weeks—but researchers cut the experiment short after just six days because of how awful things had become.
The Milgram Experiment
In the early 60s, Stanley Milgram was curious about obedience to authority — he set up an experiment in which people thought they were electric-shocking someone else for giving the wrong answers. The other person was in on the whole thing. With a little pressure from an authority figure, people were willing to “shock” another person beyond what they were comfortable with.
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The Monster Study
In 1939, researchers studied stuttering among 22 orphan children. They split them into two groups—one whom they praised for their speech and one whom they belittled. As you can guess, the second group didn’t fare well and they developed speech issues & significant psychological scars. They had no one to stand up for them.
The Little Albert Experiment
In this experiment, a baby named Little Albert was taught to fear fluffy white things like rabbits and even Santa Claus hats. Whenever the child saw these things, the researchers used loud noises to scare Albert & he became scared of anything fluffy. Sadly, there’s no record of them ever undoing this fear — so Little Albert may still have this phobia. How unfair.
The Aversion Project
South Africa was a horrible place to be during apartheid. What made things worse was a project aimed at “curing” gay soldiers through some horrific means — like electric shocks & chemical castrations. They even pushed some soldiers to gender reassignment surgeries they didn’t want—all of that trauma in the name of “science.”
Project MKUltra
One of the most infamous experiments is Project MKUltra – it involved the CIA trying to master mind control. How? By dosing unsuspecting people with LSD (among other things) and then trying out various forms of psychological torture. It’s as bad as it sounds—many participants suffered long-term psychological damage.
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Starting in 1932, the American government ran a study on African American men who had syphilis. They watched the disease progress without treating it—even after penicillin became available. The men thought they were getting free healthcare. Instead, the government left them to suffer and die as part of a horrifying betrayal of trust.
The Robbers Cave Experiment
During a summer camp in 1954, a bunch of boys were split into two groups & pitted against each other in competitions to study group conflict. Think of it like a mix of Lord of the Flies and reality TV. However, the researchers planned the entire conflict. It had some real consequences by creating hostility & aggression in the children.
The Learned Helplessness Experiment
The Learned Helplessness Experiment involved giving dogs electric shocks they couldn’t escape. Eventually, even when they could escape, they just gave up trying. The idea was to study “learned helplessness” but really—it was just cruel. It’s a huge leap between shocking dogs & understanding human depression.
“Curing” Homosexuality
In an attempt to “cure” homosexuality, some British institutions used electric shock therapy & drugs. They wanted to induce nausea in gay men while showing them homoerotic imagery. Of course, it didn’t work as being gay isn’t an illness—it also caused immense psychological harm to the subjects.
Disclaimer: This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.
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