An experiment from the early 1920s continues to astonish people even today.
Over the years, psychology has seen numerous controversial experiments.
One of the most debated experiments is Schrödinger’s Cat.
In essence, the experiment delved into quantum mechanics. Schrödinger proposed that if you placed a cat and a potentially lethal item (a radioactive atom) inside a sealed box, you wouldn’t know whether the cat was dead or alive until you opened the box. Thus, the cat was theoretically both ‘dead and alive’.
Thankfully, no actual cats were harmed in this thought experiment. However, the same cannot be said for The Landis Facial Expression Experiment.
In 1924, psychologist Carney Landis embarked on a study to determine if humans exhibited the same facial expressions in response to similar emotions.
As a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, Landis enlisted several fellow psychology students to participate in his research.
Landis aimed to identify consistent patterns in people’s facial expressions, marking lines on the participants’ faces.
He then exposed them to various stimuli while photographing their reactions.
Initially, the stimuli were benign, including listening to jazz music, smelling ammonia, and reading a Bible passage.
Things took a darker turn when Landis introduced pornographic images and gruesome medical photos.
However, the most disturbing part came at the end when participants were handed a rat and a knife and instructed to decapitate the rodent. If they refused, Landis would perform the act himself.
This elicited a range of complex emotions from the participants. Some cried and gasped, while others laughed.
Despite the extreme measures, Landis’ experiment did not produce the desired results.
He concluded that people’s natural expressions ‘showed great differences among themselves’ and that there is no universal expression for emotions such as fear or pain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaRl9Et1NOQ
A century on, this controversial experiment continues to provoke discussion.
In response to a YouTube documentary about it, one person commented: “We learned about this in my research methods in psych class when discussing ethics in research. I couldn’t believe it was a real thing.”
Another viewer referred to the rat segment of the experiment as a ‘rather nasty bit of work,’ while someone else described the entire experiment as ‘twisted’.