More forbidden experiments

October 23, 2008 1:06 PM

Point me to the great forbidden experiments of our (or any) time!

I have read about various psychological experiments that were conducted in the past but now are considered unethical and will likely never be repeated. Examples of what I'm talking about include the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment.

I also can vaguely recall an experiment involving two rival children's summer camps, or perhaps two competing teams of children in one camp, that reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

These experiments fascinate me! Are there any more like them?

I prefer psychological studies rather than medical (unless there is a strong psychological component, such as an emphasis on the placebo effect), and the study has to revolve around volunteers who gave at least a semblance of informed consent (no Nazi science, please! and no need to point me towards THE forbidden experiment). Lots of bonus points if you can link directly to the full paper.

posted by Number Used Once to Science & Nature (12 answers total)

Best answer: The Little Albert experiment was pretty messed up.

A very recent experiment that brought East Germany alive for one classroom.

Here's ten more to choose from.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 1:14 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: Isn't the Tuskegee Study the most infamous, at least within this country?
posted by piedmont at 1:48 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer:

I also can vaguely recall an experiment involving two rival children's summer camps, or perhaps two competing teams of children in one camp, that reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

The Robbers' Cave Experiment?
posted by zamboni at 2:07 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: I was recently reading a book about eyewitnesses in court cases; one of the factors affecting crime victims is stress, but there is very little research on this because obviously someone who has given informed consent knows any danger is contrived.

However, the book did reference some trials done by the army where (for example) they informed soldiers during a training exercise that due to a communication error live artillery fire was approaching their position; and the soldier's radio to call it off was broken and had to be repaired. More by looking here - try the google books link for Ethical Issues in Behavioral Research. Needless to say, if you read that entire book it would probably give you lots of similar examples.
posted by Mike1024 at 2:28 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: There's Jane Elliot's classroom "exercise." Not scientific, but still very interesting.
posted by kpmcguire at 2:38 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: There's a great book about such experiments: Elephants on Acid: And Other Bizarre Experiments

It's quite interesting and funny.
posted by Nattie at 3:50 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: Here's a Metafilter thread on language-deprivation experiments on children. Maybe a little older than you'd want, but meets the lack-of-ethics requirement. I remember learning about one of these as a child.
posted by amtho at 3:51 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: Scroll down to Child sexual response experiments performed by Alfred Kinsey. There's a documentary called The Children of Table 34 which address this issue.
posted by pinksoftsoap at 3:52 PM on October 23, 2008

I'll look for a citation, but there was a great medical study where they allowed heroin addicted prisoners access to as much of some narcotic as they wished (under medical supervision) with the idea of observing their use patterns. Try getting that by an IRB.
posted by a robot made out of meat at 4:20 PM on October 23, 2008

Best answer: How Children Behave when Locked in a Refrigerator (real research from 1958, when they were trying to decide how to design escape mechanisms inside fridges to keep kids from getting locked in)
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:56 PM on October 23, 2008 [3 favorites]

It's not a formal experiment, but I'm fascinated by the story of Poto and Cabengo.
posted by kalimac at 3:50 AM on October 24, 2008

Best answer: The Minnesota Starvation Experiment was a study of the effects of calorie reduction on healthy subjects. It was done to assess the impact of famine, and the subjects were conscientious objectors from the war who participated in the study instead of military service.

I suspect it would be difficult to get authorization to repeat.
posted by Lady Li at 10:02 AM on October 24, 2008