It is debated within which frameworks, whether or not the numerous experiments that have been conducted on different subjects from the past to the present can be considered ethical or not. When we look at the reasons for these discussions, it draws attention whether the animals and humans in the experiments were treated unethically.
We have seen many experiments in which these very sensitive issues were ignored. But the experiment at the center of our content, conducted by Carney Landis in 1924, gives them a completely different dimension.
Briefly, what was this experiment?
Psychologist Carney Landis, born in 1897, wanted to find out in his ‘Universal Facial Expressions’ experiment whether there was a specific reaction that each emotion elicited, namely facial expression.
This experiment would be successful if all subjects had the same common facial expression when they were happy. The same goes for different situations such as fear and surprise.
Landis, who was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota at the time of the experiment, included 25 people in the experiment.
Of these, 12 were men, 12 were women, and the remaining 1 was a 13-year-old boy under the supervision of the University of Minnesota psychology department.
In the first phase of the experiment, which will become chaotic, lines were drawn on the faces of the participants.
These lines, which coincided with certain muscles that make up facial expressions, would make it easier to monitor the reactions to be given.
And the first phase of the experiment began
At this stage, the participants performed actions that would reveal the desired emotion. Smelling ammonia is an example. Other than that, there are simple things like lying. Stimuli like this were used in the first phase of the experiment.
While these actions were taking place, the photos of the participants were taken and their reactions were recorded.
We would like to say the experiment is over here, but the results did not satisfy Landis.
Therefore, the second phase of the experiment was started. Here, subjects were shown pornographic images. The part that spoils the taste here is that the participants were not informed before.
When this was not enough, photos of people with skin problems were shown to the participants. These images, which did not contain any censorship and would disturb the vast majority, only further intensified.
The participants, who did not understand where he had fallen, were shocked when Landis detonated a gun in the same room:
With this, Landis aimed to see if people had a common facial expression when they were shocked.
The effect of these successive events on the participants has already been permanent up to this point. It is clear that being a psychologist in the 20th century brings great freedom. But being a test subject is probably the last thing you want these days.
Do you think it’s over? Unfortunately no
At another stage, Landis blindfolds the participants and asks them to dip their hands in a bucket. There are many live frogs in this hive.
The goal is to find what is hidden inside the box. In the meantime, of course, the reaction created by the state of disgust is observed.
Stop now…
Participants who found wires—other than frogs—inside the hive were exposed to an electrical current from those wires that was not too severe, but was painfully significant.
We came to the darkest part
Still dissatisfied with the results, Landis handed the participants a knife in one hand and a live mouse in the other and asked them to decapitate the mouse.
At this point, of course, the interrogations flared up even more. Landis, who had already received countless curses and different reactions from the participants until this point, realized that they would not do this, took the knife and mouse from their hands and did it himself.
Two-thirds of the participants had fulfilled this order. The rest had to watch Landis do it.
What results do you think you had after this experiment, which did not leave mental health in the participants?
We wish that the fact that there are no fixed and common facial expressions revealed by certain emotions had not been reached in this way. It was also underlined with this experiment that certain facial expressions do not directly represent emotions when viewed backwards.
Someone who is into frogs might love to touch them. Likewise, there is no rule that pornographic images (although their sudden appearance may surprise people) will offend everyone.
In other words, all the torture suffered by the participants was just to say ‘it wasn’t like this’.
And the 13-year-old boy, who is already facing certain psychological problems, also went through these stages.
As a result, both the mental health of the users were disregarded and the animals were treated unethically. Landis is remembered for this gruesome experiment, although he was later mentioned in different and important studies that did not involve any rodent.
There is an important point that the experiment indirectly proves.
We said that 2/3 of the participants killed the mouse on the order given. This result is very similar to the Milgram experiment, which showed that even ordinary people who pass us on the road with orders from the authority can turn into murderers.
Sources: Maureen Quartuccio, Bizzarro Bazar, Caitlin Rose, KRISFFER LUMOGDANG SOLOMON
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