Question and Response Paper
1) Which research area did you select and why?
I have chosen the research area pertaining to human obedience that is practically related to authority, discipline and blind concept of following commands. I chose this aspect of research as I feel strongly interested in knowing whether or not blind obedience could be possible. I wonder if such aspect of taking into account the authority that others have above me would have a distinct impact on how I follow commandments from my superiors depending on the power I believe they have on me.
Given the fact that this type of research is often related to how the occurrence of the holocaust and other inhumane acts happened during the Nazi regime in Germany, I would personally like to know if the human brain and human perception about authority could overthrow the human capacity to think about morals, ethics and simply giving attention to the difference between right and wrong.
2) What experiment did you participate in and why?
Although there are different areas of experiments that are included in this specific category, I choose to undergo a personal test rather than being involved in a lengthened approach of examining the issue at hand. The personal test is more of a series of different questions pertaining to the way I would respond to particular situations specifically involving my course of understanding the worth of fidelity and loyalty to my superior and the complication it invokes on my desire to stand for my principles and the moral values that I believe in.
Personally, I would say that this approach is a lot weaker than that of the process by which participants are to be involved in a month-long period of life-adjustment and alterations. Nevertheless, it is efficient enough to manipulate the thinking of the participant to feel as if they are actually in place of the situation they are being asked about; thus at some point, the decisions formed by the participants would strongly be affected by the examination questions that they are given to respond to.
3) Was being a research subject a positive, negative, or neutral experience?
I would say that the experience of being a participant in this particular experiment gave me a neutral experience especially that I was able to gauge myself in relation to how I would behave in consideration with the existence of someone more superior than myself. I have realized that when it comes to holding on to my principles and moral values, I have so much to work on; and that improving them would cause me to define who I really am even in the middle of hard-to-deal with situations that could question the solidity of my loyalty to my superiors against my loyalty to myself and my beliefs. On the other hand, it also opened my eyes into seeing what these experiments could prove when it comes to identifying the capacity and the weaknesses of the human brain to decide the difference between right and wrong accordingly.
4) Could you easily determine the primary objective of the experiment? If yes, what was it?
The primary objective of the experiment is to drive the participants into situations that are as actual as they happen in the workplace. The situations presented in each question are compelling. The success of this particular approach could be largely accounted towards the mind-setting that has been used at the beginning of the examination. It could be noted that the structure of the exam is directed towards setting the idea on the participant that he is actually a part of an organization and that he is compelled to follow a particular pattern of hierarchy and that the authorities posted in each case are real.
5) Do you believe that by participating in an experiment you may have helped increase the knowledge base in that particular area of psychology?
Considering that I was lead to believe that each case I was presented was real, I would say that my participation in this particular type of experiment does help in increasing the knowledge base development in the field of understanding the psychology behind obedience. I strongly believe that if the participants are able to be managed by the instruments used in an experiment, then the results would be strong enough to improve the point of understanding towards a particular topic in concern.
With the concentrated attention given to the value of the instrument used, it could then be argued that psychological experiments and the relative value they serve in the study that they respond to, participant-response would highly be dependent on how good the instruments used are. Hence, when aiming to explore a specific issue in psychology, researchers should be able to formulate instruments that would best get the most accurate response out from the participants they choose to involve in the study. While this may not be an easy process to take, it certainly is a consideration that would determine the proper concept of what psychological experiments are for.
References:
Psychology Experimentation. UC Davis Psychology Faculty Department. Retrieved from http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/faculty_sites/sommerb/sommerdemo/experiment/types.htm on June 7, 2014.
Psychological Research on the Net. Hanover College Psychology Department. Retrieved from http://psych.hanover.edu/research/exponnet.html on June 8, 2014.
