Comparing The Milgram Obedience Experiment And The Aversion
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In the past, there was less thought about if a research study was ethical or not than there is today. Many of the experiments, such as the Milgram Obedience Experiment, would never be allowed to be conducted today due to the Code of Ethics and Conduct (2009) published by the Ethics Committee of the British Psychological Society. This ensures that all people are respected and that researchers do not violate any of the rights of the person taking part in the research study. Two psychological research studies that have been conducted in the past, but would never be allowed to be conducted today, discussed in this essay are the Milgram Obedience Experiment and the Aversion Project.
The Milgram Obedience Experiment was conducted by Stanley Milgram, an American social psychologist, in 1963. He wanted to find out how much a person was prepared to do when knowing that they hurt another person, simply because there was a figure of authority telling them they had to do it. This would help him understand how normal people could commit such evil crimes as committed, for instance, by the Germans during World War I. The participants were men of varying backgrounds and…show more content… The actor always became the learner and the volunteer always became the teacher, the result was predetermined. Every time the learner got an answer wrong, which he did most of the time (on purpose), the teacher had to give him an increasingly higher electric shock. The catch was that the learner never received an electric shock, but the screams and pleads were played to the teacher to make him believe he caused the learner physical harm. This was highly unethical due to the deception of the teachers, something which is not allowed today. If someone takes part in a research study, they must have truthful knowledge of what is being tested and under what