You Gotta Know These Psychological Experiments

This Russian conducted classical conditioning experiments on dogs and noticed that when dogs heard a sound and then were fed, they would salivate when hearing the sound. This response was called a conditioned response.

• BF Skinner

• Little Albert

• Ivan Pavlov

• Solomon Asch

This experiment tested whether it was possible to condition fear in an otherwise normal child. The child was shown a white rat while a loud banging was performed. Eventually, the child feared any white fluffy object--including Santa.

• Clark doll experiment

• the Little Albert Experiment

• Asch Conformity Experiment

• Bobo Doll Experiment

This experiment explored operant conditioning--an animal is able to use a lever in a box to get treats, turn off an electric floor, or effect their environment in some way.

• The Skinner Box

• small world experiment

• learned helplessness experiment

• Stanford prison experiment

This study showed that children of all races prefer a white doll--it showed that racism was a real problem in America. The Supreme Court cited the study in the Brown v Board of Education decision that ended segregation in US schools.

• Clark Doll Experiment

• Bobo Doll Experiment

• Milgram Obedience Experiment

• Small World Experiment

Participants in the experiment were paired with seven other people—all of whom were in on the plan. The groups were shown a line, then were shown three other lines, and were asked to pick which of the three other lines was the same length the original. The 7 insiders all intentionally picked a clearly "wrong" line. In nearly 40 percent of these trials, the subject of the experiment also gave an incorrect answer in order to "fit in."

• Asch Conformity Experiment

• Milgram Obedience Experiment

• Skinner Box

• Classical Conditioning

A person was led to believe they were administering electric shocks to a “learner”--if the learner made a mistake, they were shocked. The person was to increase the voltage to dangerously high levels as the experiment continued. The learner screamed in pain and pleaded with them to stop. The person was told to continue. Over 60 percent of participants eventually administered shocks so powerful that they would have killed the learner had they been real.

• Bobo Doll Experiment

• Stanford Prison Experiment

• Learned Helplessness

• Milgram's Obedience Experiment

Children in the experiment watched an adult interacting with a doll. Some adults completely ignored the doll. Others were highly aggressive toward the doll. Children who observed an adult acting aggressively toward the doll were far more likely to act aggressively towards the doll--and vice versa. The study provided support for the idea of social learning theory, which holds that behaviors may be learned by observing models.

• Clark Doll Experiment

• Bobo Doll Experiment

• Small World Experiment

• Milgram Obedience Experiment

An early study of social networks--a number of people in Nebraska and Kansas were mailed a package. They were asked to send it to a target in Boston. If they knew the individual in Boston, they could send it directly to the target; if they did not, they were instructed to send it to a personal acquaintance who they believed would be most likely to know the person in Boston. The experiment showed that packages that made it to Boston usually did so in five or six steps,

• Small World Experiment

• Classical Conditioning

• Asch Conformity Experiment

• Milgram Obedience Experiment

Seligman divided a number of dogs into three groups: one group which received no electric shocks, one group that received electric shocks but could stop them by pressing a lever, and one group which was led to believe they had no control over when the shocks stopped or started. Each group of dogs was then placed into a new situation where they were given shocks but presented an easy means of escape. While the first two groups of dogs each quickly escaped from the shocks, the third group—those given no control over the initial shocks—made no attempt at escape. The experiment had major implications for the understanding and treatment of clinical depression via therapy.

• Learned Helplessness Experiment

• Stanford Prison Experiment

• Bobo doll experiment

• Classical Conditioning

This experiment was designed by Philip Zimbardo to study the effects of power dynamics in custodial situations. Participants—college students—were randomly assigned to be “guards” or “prisoners” for a two-week period. Within six days, the experiment had to be stopped because the guards became abusive.

• Learned Helplessness

• The Stanford Prison Experiment

• Asch conformity experiment

• Skinner Box