AP Psychology and the Ethics of Social Experiments

AP Psychology students at El Camino are evaluating how ‘worth it’ it is to take the class and the ethics behind it. Most students expressed enjoyment in taking the course because of the fascinating knowledge they acquired, gaining a much better understanding of the human way of life.
“I like AP Psychology because it is so intriguing to learn and realize how people work,” junior Sarah-Maria Tanios said. “Having so much knowledge gives me the ‘Aha!’ moment and I apply what I learn to people’s behaviors.”
One of the most engaging things about AP psychology is that students often relate to social experiments learned about in class. They tend to simultaneously gain a greater understanding of themselves and others through the material.
“My favorite experiment is [Solomon] Aschs’s conformity. [Asch was] trying to see if one person conforms to the rest of the group and even though they know the answers wrong, they choose it so they can fit in,” sophomore Kylar Niitsuma explained. “I tend to find myself just picking what the rest of people pick. Whether that be answering a question with everyone or what everyone agrees with.”
The majority of students said they would be willing to participate in these social experiments while others believed it would cause bias because of their knowledge of psychology already.
“If I acted in a way I didn’t like in an experiment I’d overthink my own behaviors, so I wouldn’t do any social experiments,” sophomore Taye Sangkhae said.
The debate over the ethics regarding these social experiments has been a hot topic for ages.
“I do think they are ethical at this point in time,” junior Sofia Khachaturova said. “Following American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines assures that. In the past, however, they were very much not because consent was not required, and animals were abused.” Psychology goes deep, it goes far beyond the surface of the human mind and human behaviors. It is something that we all can share and relate to one way. “It is the fact that people act the way they are expected to that is so crazy,” Khachaturova said. “I guess we’re all just crazy alike!”