Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LBe8ZRugXQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQajPaB1TBU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPsQH17EhXc
Questions:
- How do you think the researchers felt during their experiments? Did they look like they were having fun,
did they look nervous, did they look uncomfortable or comfortable, etc? Was there a difference in how the
professional researchers looked compared to the student researchers (in terms of whether they looked
comfortable, were having fun, etc)? - How did the study subjects react to deviant behaviors? Were reactions explicit and extreme, or were they
implicit and subtle? - Did any of the study subjects try to pretend that the deviant behavior was normal? Were study subjects
more likely to normalize the behavior of a single deviant person, or of a group of deviant people? Why do
you think this is so? - Did any of the researchers receive sanctions? If so, what positive sanctions did you observe, and what
negative sanctions did you observe? Were study subjects more likely to provide explicit positive sanctions to
a single deviant person, or to a group of deviant people? Were study subjects more likely to provide explicit
negative sanctions to a single deviant person, or to a group of deviant people? Why do you think this is so? - Today, researchers (either students or professionals) typically have to get approval from an IRB
(Institutional Review Board) before conducting a breaching experiment, to make sure that the proposed
study will not harm its subjects (if undue physical, emotional, psychological, or social harm is expected to
come of participants, the study cannot be performed). Now that you have observed a few breaching
experiments, what harm do you think could befall study subjects? Could researchers be harmed by the
subjects’ reactions in any way? Do you think it is important to protect subjects while conducting research?
Do you think it is ethical to perform breaching experiments, or not? Explain.
Sample Solution
