Behind the Shock Machine
The Untold Story of the Notorious Milgram Psychology Experiments
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $16.99
-
- $16.99
Publisher Description
The true story of the most controversial psychological research of the modern era.
In the summer of 1961, a group of men and women volunteered for a memory experiment to be conducted by young, dynamic psychologist Stanley Milgram. None could have imagined that, once seated in the lab, they would be placed in front of a box known as a shock machine and asked to administer a series of electric shocks to a man they’d just met. And no one could have foreseen how the repercussions of their actions, made under pressure and duress, would reverberate throughout their lives. For what the volunteers did not know was that the man was an actor, the shocks were fake, and what was really being tested was just how far they would go.
When Milgram’s results were released, they created a worldwide sensation. He reported that people had repeatedly shocked a man they believed to be in pain, even dying, because they had been told to — he linked the finding to Nazi behaviour during the Holocaust. But some questioned Milgram’s unethical methods in fooling people. Milgram became both hero and villain, and his work seized the public imagination for more than half a century, inspiring books, plays, films, and art.
For Gina Perry, the story of the experiments never felt finished. Listening to participants’ accounts and reading Milgram’s unpublished files and notebooks, she pieced together an intriguing, sensational story: Milgram’s plans went further than anyone had imagined. This is the compelling tale of one man’s ambition and of the experiment that defined a generation.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Perry puts one of the 20th century's most contentious psychological studies under a microscope in this truly shocking history of the Milgram "obedience experiments," examining their origins, methodologies, aftermath, and criticisms. Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram's 1961 series of tests showed that 65% of participants would, under various circumstances, willingly administer high-voltage shocks to other participants. The findings made waves in scientific circles and in popular culture, and were used to account for atrocities like the Holocaust by demonstrating the disturbing ease with which seemingly normal people could be impelled to commit cruel acts. Perry, herself a psychologist, focuses largely on the means by which these devastating conclusions were drawn; in constructing her case, she draws from her own interviews with participants and recorded dialogue from the experiments. These details, combined with her journalistic approach, make the book easily accessible to laypersons yet it's incisive enough to appeal to other psychologists as well. Perry's palpably unfavorable opinion of Milgram may leave some readers doubting the objectivity of her project, but there's still much rewarding and entertaining material here (her discussion about the scientific experiment as a form of theater is particularly interesting). No matter how shocking, it seems that the show must go on.
