RESPOND TO THE 3 POST BELOW WITH A MINIMUM OF 250 WORDS EACH AND LIST REFERENCES USED PER EACH. RESPONSE 1 (SYLVIA): Part 1 One experiment that always stands out in my mind in terms of ethics is Milgram’s experience on obedience and authority. Perhaps this draw comes from the almost militant quality this experiment has in the regards to how far the human psyche can be pushed in response to authoritative prompting. Another fascination I have in regards to this experiment is that Milgram sought out to test how far someone could be pushed past their own personal coconscious beliefs when prompted by an authority figure in an effort to bring some insight to the German soldiers who stated they were just following orders during the horrific events that took place during WWII. In doing so he pushed volunteers from differing backgrounds and professions to administer increasing levels of shock to another human being (or so they thought) as directed by an experiment authority figure. While no individual was actually shocked during this experiment, there was psychological harm done to those who were being directed to administer the shock. Many of these individuals had saw some of their darker potentials to inflict harm on another human being (something that they did not think they were capable of prior to this experiment) and suffered short- and long-term psychological distress as a result. While I do believe there is undeniable insight gained from this experiment and the potential we all have in respect to how far we may go when we believe or trust the person of authority above us, I can see that it came with a cost. Looking back, I think that perhaps the participants could have been better prepared by informing them that they may be put in “high-stress” situations which may affect them after the testing has been completed. I believe an immediate de-briefing could have been done to allow the participants to be fully aware that no individuals were harmed during the testing and have proper support on hand to help resolve any traumatic activations that may have taken place during the experiment, as well as long term access to these professionals should they have further questions or need further support. If I were the researcher this is the route I would have taken to ensure first and foremost my volunteer participants ar3e taken care of to the best of my ability.  Part 2 This course has been a great expansion of my knowledge in regards to the influences that social culture has on the field of psychology. One element that stands out to me is the influence of pop culture and marketing persuasion on our culture. Although the documentary video we had watched covering this topic was quite dated, it was eye opening to see how far the reaches of pop culture had on the way we act and interact within our communities on a pretty deep level. It was also startling to see how far some of these major companies were willing to go to capture the next “big thing” .

1. RESPOND TO THE 3 POST BELOW WITH A MINIMUM OF
250 WORDS EACH AND LIST REFERENCES USED PER
EACH.
RESPONSE 1 (SYLVIA):
Part 1
One experiment that always stands out in my mind in terms of
ethics is Milgram’s experience on obedience and authority.
Perhaps this draw comes from the almost militant quality this
experiment has in the regards to how far the human psyche can
be pushed in response to authoritative prompting. Another
fascination I have in regards to this experiment is that Milgram
sought out to test how far someone could be pushed past their
own personal coconscious beliefs when prompted by an
authority figure in an effort to bring some insight to the German
soldiers who stated they were just following orders during the
horrific events that took place during WWII. In doing so he
pushed volunteers from differing backgrounds and professions
to administer increasing levels of shock to another human being
(or so they thought) as directed by an experiment authority
figure. While no individual was actually shocked during this
experiment, there was psychological harm done to those who
were being directed to administer the shock. Many of these
individuals had saw some of their darker potentials to inflict
harm on another human being (something that they did not think
they were capable of prior to this experiment) and suffered
short- and long-term psychological distress as a result. While I
do believe there is undeniable insight gained from this
experiment and the potential we all have in respect to how far
we may go when we believe or trust the person of authority
above us, I can see that it came with a cost. Looking back, I
think that perhaps the participants could have been better
prepared by informing them that they may be put in “high-

2. stress” situations which may affect them after the testing has
been completed. I believe an immediate de-briefing could have
been done to allow the participants to be fully aware that no
individuals were harmed during the testing and have proper
support on hand to help resolve any traumatic activations that
may have taken place during the experiment, as well as long
term access to these professionals should they have further
questions or need further support. If I were the researcher this is
the route I would have taken to ensure first and foremost my
volunteer participants ar3e taken care of to the best of my
ability.
Part 2
This course has been a great expansion of my knowledge in
regards to the influences that social culture has on the field of
psychology. One element that stands out to me is the influence
of pop culture and marketing persuasion on our culture.
Although the documentary video we had watched covering this
topic was quite dated, it was eye opening to see how far the
reaches of pop culture had on the way we act and interact within
our communities on a pretty deep level. It was also startling to
see how far some of these major companies were willing to go
to capture the next “big thing” in what is considered to be
“cool” and exploit it. The same could be said for our discussion
on the perceptions we have of beauty, and how someone’s
physical appearance effects the way we interpret many other
things about them (such as intelligence level, economic
standing, perceived level of niceness or rudeness, ect.) and
build our expectations, perceptions and opinions of others in a
single instant without knowing anything else about them. I also
found some great insight from our discussions on prejudice and
some of the ways and reasons it arises in our communities. I
was also able to recognize some of old programing from my
childhood that I was not conscious of that brought me some
awareness’s and final releases of unjust prejudices that had been

3. planted by parents and grandparents’ generations. Sometime it
is the subtle ones we still carry that get overlooked because they
are not blatant and obvious and I am always thankful for these
subtle opportunities for growth and understanding of myself and
others.
RESPONSE 2 (MARIE):
A class divided:
A class divided is a controversial experiment that was
performed with the purpose of revealing a number of factors
about human propensity for prejudice and discrimination. The
main subjects in the research were elementary school children
and laid focus on the concept of psychologically distressful
situations. The accuracy and authenticity of the process, in this
case, remain an issue of consideration in the current regime
because guardians and parents of the small children involved
were not involved in any way (Class Divided, 2017). In this
case, the main controversy in the "Blue Eyes - Brown Eyes
Experiment" is that the psychological status of small children is
widely influenced by their upbringing, which is widely
influenced by parents and guardians who act as the primary
caregivers at their tender ages.
Professor Henry Murray Experiments:
An example of a controversial experiment conducted by
Professor Henry Murray, a personality theorist, took place
between 1959 and 1962. At this time, he led a series of tests
with 22 participants, undergraduate men at Harvard University
in the USA. The experiment was meant to measure how
individuals respond to interpersonal confrontations that were
stressful in nature while making use of mock interrogations.
I think the study should have been conducted. However, the

4. choice of individuals and the method applied is quite
controversial (Morris, 2015). With the need to determine which
type of men would withstand brainwashing, the choice of
university participants completely questions the integrity of
intellectual individuals at the University level.
From the study, the knowledge gained from this study has
played an essential role in future studies of psychology.
However, it does not in any way justify the discomfort of the 22
participants that were brought on board for the actual process.
If the experiment’s negative impact on subjects was only
temporary, we could not say that the ethical problems are
diminished and, therefore, acceptable to a certain level in my
opinion ("Five principles for research ethics," 2018). While all
studies and experiments might have their related problems, it is
crucial to maintain the respect and integrity of the participants
and the process involved.
The primary standards of ethics that I would adhere to if I
were a researcher are intellectual property concerns, being
conscious of multiple roles, and finally respecting
confidentiality and privacy.
When it comes to the takeaways I personally feel I learned the
most in the forums and the subjects that I will use the most in
the future and will apply are: conformity, Aggression,
Perception, and judgment
Throughout the course, I understood the role that conformity
plays in life... Although it is a factor that affects one's decision
it is important to teach that it is just fine to go against the grain.
If something feels wrong to not just agree or stay quiet. It is
something one may work on.It will not be an easy thing to do
but it can be worked on. I see myself standing against
conformity in the future.

5. Aggression: I have realized that aggression can manifest itself
in many ways. One of the takeaways is that aggression can be
positive and negative. And being aggressive does not make you
a bad person. In the future, I would like to teach others how to
channel their aggression in a more positive avenue.
Perception and judgment: taught me to not be so quick to judge.
I was quite disappointed at myself to have had those thoughts
about the women form. the video. Without knowing their
storiesi made up my mind about them as if it was set in stone. I
will take that experience to teAch my daughter better. teach her
not to be so quick to take her time amd not let society influence
her judgment.
Reference
A Class Divided
[Video file]. (2017). Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/
Five principles for research ethics. (2018). Retrieved from
https://www.apa.org/monitor/jan03/principles.aspx
Morris, N. (2015). Providing ethical guidance for collaborative
research in developing countries.
Research Ethics
,
11
(4), 211-235. doi:10.1177/1747016115586759
RESPONSE 3 (JASON):
Part 1
This is our final week for this class, as we come to an end of

6. 2018! For this week’s topic part one, we are to pick a study we
were exposed to in this course and discuss it from an ethical
perspective. I chose the Stanford prison experiment for my
topic. This study was conducted with 24 college study
volunteers to be randomly assigned being either prisoners, or
prison guards to explore situational variables on human
behavior. The experimenter also took part in the experiment as
the prison warden. Even though this study was approved by the
board and met ethical standards for 1971, it could not be
conducted today as it would not meet ethical standards in place
today to limit psychological harm. In my eyes, I do not think
this study should have been performed as it was carried out, as
it was supposed to last for 2 weeks, but had to shut down in 6
days due to how the guards were mistreating the prisoners. The
experimenter himself stated that, the study should have been
monitored closer and stopped sooner. Even though the
participants signed informed consent, they were not informed
that they would be arrested at their homes, and were not
reminded throughout the experiment that they could quit at any
time without penalty. The information gained from this study
did provide insight into the effects of situational variables to on
human behavior, was it worth the cost in human psychological
harm caused by the experiment? I think it does not as it would
not meet ethical standards to even be conducted today. If I were
to perform this study, I would have provided clearer instruction
to the students about the study, would have reminded the
students throughout the study that they could exit the study at
any time, and would have an objective monitor or monitors
oversee the study to aid in preventing no harm to the
participants. This may not have eliminated harm to participants,
but could have lessened the harm.
PART 2:
I really enjoyed our learning material in this class, as Social
Psychology was a very interesting class. It is amazing how as

7. humans we are designed for and crave being a part of a social
circle. The lengths we go to ensure that we fit into some social
network are very interesting to me. It is interesting how we
identify with those similar to us, and focus on their good
qualities, while we focus on the negative qualities of those who
are not in our tribe or group.
How we rationalize behaviors of ourselves and others is
interesting as well. How engrained prejudice can be and how
hard it is to overcome, and how immersion with a common goal
helps to break this barrier is something I will take from this
course as well.
Effective communication with expressing emotions and needs is
not something new to me, but is definitely a good reminder to
me to keep at the forefront of all I do, especially as I spend time
with my grandchildren and help them on their journey to
become well-adjusted social creatures.
I wish everyone the best in their academic journeys as well as
their personal journeys into this brand new year!
Peace Joy and Blessings,
Jason
References
Aronson, E. (2011). The Social Animal [Kindle iOS version].
Retrieved from Amazon.com
Cherry, K. (n.d.). The Stanford Prison Experiment Is Still
Infamous Decades Later. Retrieved December 24, 2018, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stanford-prison-experiment-
2794995

8. More Information. (n.d.). Retrieved December 24, 2018, from
https://www.prisonexp.org/faq/