(Untitled)

[thndrstd]

I've heard of these kind of psychological experiments before, but I don't know if they've been televised as entertainment. Not quite sure what to think. I'm sure many are horrified, but doesn't it serve an educational purpose, too?

Full story here.

Comments

[kenakeri]

Isn't the Saw movie something like this also? Educational as to how most people give up control, yes - but still horrifying.

[thndrstd]

I haven't seen any of the Saw movies. While I like horror, torture and brutality don't do it for me. But I agree this may be in that category, though people might take it more seriously since the contestants are "real," not actors.

[cheerybeggar]

Well, the classic Milgram study (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) used a very similar template. It would almost certainly never receive IRB approval today, especially since the participants in the original Milgram study reported extremely high levels of anxiety and emotional distress.

A little-known fact - Milgram originally performed his study in the US with the intent to compare results here with the same study run in Germany. He expected that Germans would bow to authority but Americans wouldn't. Then he saw what happened in the US and realized, well, shit. Then he ran many iterations of his study where he looked at the impact of various situational variables.

As for educational... well, yes and no. It's been done, it's covered in psych courses. I feel like it's just sensationalism when it's replicated at this point.