Studies On Society That Could Never Happen Today

Humans have made significant advancements in science and medicine, and the studies they performed to make them happen. This has been proven by the tremendous rise against animal studies and the cruelty from some of them. Many still frown upon this today, given the number of live subjects needed to make accurate deductions. 

Many studies have been banned in the name of medicine because of its approach and cruel nature. Although they were needed to make waves in science, the ethics behind most of them means they will never legally happen going forward. In fact, the studies on society that could never happen today show just how different things used to be.

The David Reimer Gender Study aimed to see if gender is a natural thing

In 1965, Dr. John Money studied a human subject to see if gender was actually conditioned or a natural concept. This led the doctor to perform surgery and change the gender of David Reimer during infancy. Being led to believe that he was a female all his life, Dr. Money continued to study David's behavior, being brought up as "Brenda" until age 15. This was an attempt to confirm his theory that adult activity played a significant role in adult gender identity. After that, Brenda was told the truth, starting to identify as a man and changing their name to David. Tragically, David took his own life at the age of 38, unable to lie about the trauma the experiment had caused. 

The Stanford Prison Experiment had to end early to save some subjects

The Stanford Prison experiment was an experimental study by Dr. Philip Zimbardo in August 1971. The experiment only lasted a week, but ended with tragic consequences. The study was conducted to see the changes in young men's human behavior after becoming either prisoners or prison guards. Dr. Zimbardo went on to instruct men who were prison guards to take away the human rights of prisoners. This effectively made them lose, taking away any sense of individualism from them. After chaos erupted, the study ended a mere six days after it had started when it was intended to last a fortnight. 

The Monster Study looked at how children’s speech develops

A terrible and horrifying study was undertaken in 1939 by Wendell Johnson when he suggested a speech therapy study on 22 orphaned children. The aim of the study in question was to see whether children's speech would be affected if they were praised or belittled while they were still undergoing speech development. Eleven children were celebrated for having a terrific address, while the other half was shamed or criticized. The scary part was that most children showed no signs of stuttering. The study concluded that the children developed speech issues where there were none, just because of the research and belittling. 

The Bystander Effect looked to prove if people help in groups or while alone

The Bystander Effect was a study conducted on human subjects to see the results of an emergency situation on a group of people. In 1964, psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané went ahead with the first testing of their theory. The purpose of the study was to see whether people were more likely to jump in and help if there were fewer people around. They set a person in an office to help them effectively run the analysis. At the same time, a harmless, smoke-like vapor was released. In the second instance, a whole group was in the same office while the harmless smoke entered through the venting system. The study reported that it took individuals longer to report smoke creeping through the vents than in a group setting. The long-lasting effects were that some individuals suffered from psychological issues long after the study was concluded. 

The studies on society that could never happen today might have given scientists and researchers plenty of answers, but there are several reasons that they could no longer take place. The ethics involved have certainly led many to question if they should have happened in the first place.