Ethics in Experimenting with Electricity and Human Behavior in Modern History
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Ethics in Experimenting with Electricity and Human Behavior in Modern History
The Experiment That Shocked the World
A corpse is a dead body with no capability of movement. Accordingly, in the field of medical and physical science, a corpse would not be re-animated. The reason being, no experiment or argument has been employed to prove any theory of muscle movement. However, Galvani’s theory provided the “argument from fact” that was so badly needed. “The Experiment That Shocked the World” is a social science experiment carried out in a back garden by an Italian physiologist Luigi Galvani (Lai, 2017).
The primary aim of the experiment was to prove the theory that animals generate electricity. Thus, they could use this intrinsic electricity to make their body move. Based on the concept that electricity is linked to movement, the study’s main subject were a frog and criminal corpse. Other equipment included a lightning rod. The procedure required connecting the lightning rod to the subject such as a frog then wait for the storm. Thus, during the storm, whenever lightning flashed nearby, energy coursed down the rod, and the frog’s leg twitched.
In Analyzing the experiment based on modern principles of human research protections, the test could be ethically conducted today. According to the Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association, psychologists should adhere to certain principles and guidelines when conducting research. For example, in using animals in research, they should dispose of animals in compliance with current federal, state, and local laws and regulations, and with professional standards (American Psychological Association, 2017). Contra wise other people might argue that based on the Belmont Report, the experiment could not be ethically conducted because it could not protect the autonomy of the subject by treating them with respect. The argument is lame because the APA principle requires that there must be informed consent to research, meaning that psychologists inform the participant’s family about the purpose of the study, the expected duration, and procedures. Following all the guidelines from the APA and Belmont report, the experiment could be ethically conducted today.
Conclusively, my reaction after reading the experiment was adverse. I thought that the procedure was against human values and principles. However, with the assurance that abuse could be prevented during such experiments, I believe that the test catalyzed change in medical and physical science. Conversely, if a would-be a participant in this experiment, I would have made sure that all the procedures and requirements met the Belmont Report and the APA Code standards.
Neuroscience Experiments from the 19th Century: Capturing the Human Facial Expression, 1862
The Neuroscience Experiments from the 19th Century by Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne de Boulogne was carried out to determine how muscles in the human face generate facial expressions (History Daily, 2017). Therefore, to prove the concept, Duchenne experimented on different looks on how to trigger the facial muscles using electrical probes. The primary subjects of the study were the faces of older individuals. In this test, Duchenne considered the human face was like of map whose features could be coded into universal taxonomies of mental states. He believed that the way people express their faces determines their souls. Equally, Duchenne thought that a person’s facial expression defines personal moral character.
In analyzing the experiment based on modern principles of human research protections, the study would be ethically conducted today. The reason is that both the American Psychological Association and the Belmont Report allow the use of animals and humans in research based on certain principles. For example, the doctrine of the American Psychological Association states that psychologists must show compliance with current federal or state regulations regarding the use of animals in research; the experiment would be conducted today (American Psychological Association, 2017). Equally, the Belmont report suggests that while using human participants, the experiment procedure must show respect and justice to participants (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Thus, relying on these principles, the experiment could ethically be conducted today.
Convincingly, my reaction to this study is that using electrical probes on human participants seems like a risky experiment. However, following the right protocol and procedure, all can be well. Thus, being a participant in the investigation, I would make sure that the electrical probe meets the required human standard. Equally, I would make sure that the procedure of the experiment meets all the needed principles stated in the American Psychological Association and the Belmont Report.
Milgram’s Experiment on Obedience to Authority
The “Milgram’s Experiment on Obedience to Authority” was a study conducted by Social psychologist Stanley Milgram (Encina, 2004). The focus of the experiment was to research the effect of authority on obedience; specifically, the study aimed at proving the concept of why people tend to obey when coerced. Eventually, the study finding recorded that people tend to obey when they are compelled because of either fear or the desire to appear cooperative even if it is against their better judgment and wishes.
The subjects of the study were people from different aspects of life. Divided into two, the role of a teacher and students, participants were told the aim of the experiment, which was to would study the effects of punishment on learning ability. Participants that catedTeachers were asked to administer increasingly severe electric shocks (single 45-volt shock) to the students who answered questions incorrectly. Shock levels were labeled from 15 to 450 volts, with the lower end being slight and the highest being a severe shock. In response to the experiment’s aim, obedience was extracted from the participants subjected to torture because of wrong answers. Therefore this indicated that most participants obeyed only under coercion.
In analyzing the experiment based on modern principles of human research protections, the experiment could be ethically conducted today. The reason being, the right to informed Consent to Research from the American Psychological Association, allows the subjects to decline to participate and to withdraw from the research once participation has begun. Therefore, just like in the study, participants who engage in this type of experiment today can withdraw from participating. Similarly,the Belmont report highlights three fundamental principles for using human subjects for research (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2017). Thus, if the experiment could adhere to these principles, it could be ethically conducted today. On the other hand, the experiment could not be ethically conducted today because the psychologist offered inducements to coerce Participation.
Irrefutably, reading about the experiment, a person becomes terrified about how it was conducted. Many of the participants withdrew from it while others demonstrated a range of negative emotions about continuing. Thus, from a personal perspective, I think that it would be more practical if the individuals who withdrew from the study were coerced into continuing. Conversely, being a participant from the experiment, I would not have subjected to the coercion. Instead, I would have questioned the experimenter’s authority and argued there are greater ethical imperatives giving participants the right to withdraw from the experiment
The Autism History Project
The Autism History Project is an article that discusses the Lauretta Bender’s perspective towards autism (Herman, 2019). The material states that Bender believed that neurodiversity or neurological differences caused developmental and learning problems. Thus, in addressing the issue, she emphasized that there was a need for research in neurological and psychopharmacological as intervention avenues. Consequently, she researched children with schizophrenia. The finding recorded that maturational lags prevented children from having normal patterns of learning, movement, and language. Thus, to treat these children she administered shock and psychoactive drugs, including LSD, to autistic children.
Analyzing Benders, an experiment based on modern principles of human research protections, the experiment could not be ethically conducted today. The reason being, the American Psychological Association, and the Belmont Report put an emphasis on the principle of informed consent to research and protecting the autonomy of all the people, respectively. However, this was not the case with Bender, as her experiments were carried out in an era when clinical experimentations had less strict regulations. For example, there was no informed consent as a psychologist who conducted experiments without participants being aware. Equally, she also took a very forceful position towards the subjects.
Conclusively, Bender played a critical role in the history of autism. However, unlike her recent trend of using psychoactive substances to treat serious cases of depression and addiction, the use of shock and drugs in autism patients seems to be shocking. Accordingly, form a personal perspective and opinion, I think that Research ethics and protocols influenced how she conducted her research. On the contrary, if I could be a participant in this experiment, I would be terrified because the procedures and ethics did not follow the modern principles of human research protection. The reason being, the procedures had less respect and justice for persons. Equally, the researchers were only maximizing benefits for the project instead of minimizing risks of the subjects (U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2017).
Just think- The challenges of the disengaged mind.
“Just think: The challenges of the disengaged mind” is about studies conducted to answer the question of why humans decide to put themselves in default mode by disengaging from the real world and how they feel when they are in this state (Wilson et al., 2014). Thus, the study used college students as the primary subjects of the experiments. The participants were placed in the unadorned room for approximately r 6 to 15 min. With no phones or any other belongings, they were asked to after to entertain themselves with their thoughts. The rule of the experiment required that no subject was to sleep; instead they should stay awake and in their seat. After the stipulated time, the participants were expected to answer some questions. Successively, the study concluded that people prefer and enjoy doing something rather than spending time by themselves doing nothing but to think. Precisely, they enjoyed doing negative, unexciting, or boring external activities such as administering electric shocks to themselves instead of being left alone with their thoughts.
In analyzing this experiment based on the modern principles of human research protections, the experiment could be ethically conducted today. This owes to the fact that it was conducted in an era when the Belmont report was already established to protect human subjects in biomedical and behavioral research. For example, the experiment could be justified today because the participants had informed consent to research, and the procedure adhered to the fundamental principles of justice and beneficence.
Conclusively, the experiment significantly contributes to research on human behavior. However, after reading about the experiment, I was shocked to realize that human beings prefer to be doing something even if it is boring or negative instead of doing nothing. Conversely, being among the participants, I would have engaged my thoughts to some of the precious moments of my life.
References
American Psychological Association, 2017. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. American Psychological Association. Available at: https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/
Encina, G. B., 2004. Milgram s Experiment on Obedience to Authority. Available at: https://nature.berkeley.edu/ucce50/ag-labor/7article/article35.htm
Herman, E., 2019. The Autism History Project. Available at: https://blogs.uoregon.edu/autismhistoryproject/people/lauretta-bender-1897-1987/
History Daily, 2017. Neuroscience Experiments from the 19th Century: Capturing the Human Facial Expression, 1862. History Daily. Available at; https://historydaily.org/neuroscience-experiments-from-the-19th-century
Lai, A., 2017. The Experiment That Shocked The World Available at https://helix.northwestern.edu/article/experiment-shocked-world
U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 2017. Part 3 – The Belmont Report: Basic Ethical Principles and their Application, s.l.: s.n.Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AKIIhoFn4&feature=youtu.be
Wilson, T. D. et al., 2014. Just think, The challenges of the disengaged mind. Available at: https://wjhwww.harvard.edu/~dtg/WILSON%20ET%20AL%202014.pdf