Dirty Wars and Democracy

When the past informs the present…

Archive for December 22nd, 2008

Shocking revelation: Santa Clara University professor mirrors famous torture study

Posted by svolk on 22nd December 2008

By Lisa M. Krieger

Mercury News (San Jose, CA)

Article Launched: 12/20/2008 08:00:00 PM PST

Replicating one of the most controversial behavioral experiments in history, a Santa Clara University psychologist has found that people will follow orders from an authority figure to administer what they believe are painful electric shocks.

More than two-thirds of volunteers in the research study had to be stopped from administering 150 volt shocks of electricity, despite hearing a person’s cries of pain, professor Jerry M. Burger concluded in a study published in the January issue of the journal American Psychologist.

“In a dramatic way, it illustrates that under certain circumstances people will act in very surprising and disturbing ways,” said Burger.

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