Experimenter

1

Hello. I'm Mr. Williams.

Thank you for coming.

Please. And you are?

- Fred Miller.

- You must be...?

Wallace. James Wallace.

Great. Please. Have a seat.

Now, before we do anything else,

allow me to pay you.

Please check that both names

are spelled correctly.

You understand that this is yours

simply for coming to the lab.

From now on, no matter what happens,

the money is yours.

I'll have to have you sign a receipt.

There you go.

Now, psychologists have developed

several theories on how humans learn.

Uh, for example, it might help

to reward a person.

Sometimes it helps to punish them.

We do know that punishment...

Thank you very much.

...is a powerful incentive

towards learning.

For example,

when a parent spanks a child.

However, in fact, we actually know

very little about

the effect of punishment on learning,

because almost no scientific studies

have been done of it on human beings.

Now, one of you will play

the role of learner,

who will receive a mild

punishment

if he answers incorrectly

to a series of questions.

That punishment will be

administered by a teacher.

What kind of punishment

are we talking about?

Well, first, let's determine

which of you

will be learner and which

will be teacher.

If you'll just choose one.

Good.

Teacher.

I guess I'm the learner, huh?

Good.

This is the machine for

generating electric shocks.

Go ahead.

Now, let's set up the learner

to receive some punishment.

If you'll just follow me

into the next room.

- Is it okay if I leave my hat here?

- Yes, that's fine.

Now, you might wanna

remove the jacket.

Go ahead and have a seat.

Now, when you push one of

these four buttons,

this box will signal

a light in the other room,

telling the teacher how you're

responding to the questions.

What kind of questions?

Multiple choice.

Word pairs. "Strong arm",

"black curtain", and so forth.

Now, we want you to memorize them.

The teacher will first read them

as word pairs,

"strong arm", for example,

then he'll read only the first word,

"strong", followed by

a series of word choices.

"Back, arm, branch, and push".

Your job is to remember

which of those words

was originally paired with

the first word, "strong".

- Arm.

- Right.

Now you would indicate that by

pushing one of these buttons here.

If you had thought it was the

first word I had read, "back",

you'd push this first button here.

If you thought it was

the second word, "arm",

you'd push the second button,

so on and so forth with

third and fourth word choices.

Now, if you get the answer incorrect,

you will receive an electric shock.

Would you please roll up

your right arm sleeve, please?

Would you just help me strap him

in to limit any excess movement?

How far do you think he'll go?

- Now this is connected...

- Too soon to tell.

...to the shock generator

in the next room.

- Electrode paste.

- And electrode paste,

to eliminate any excess burns

or blisters.

You know, I should say that

a couple of years ago,

in the West Haven VA Hospital,

they determined that I had

a slight heart condition.

Nothing serious, but how

dangerous are these shocks?

Well, although the shocks may be

extremely painful,

they cause

no permanent tissue damage.

Oh. Okay.

Well, we'll be communicating

from the next room.

The lab coat,

I decided to make it grey.

White would seem too medical.

- Okay.

- Thank you.

Now, if he gets the answer

incorrect, you administer

the shock by flipping one of

these switches here. You see?

Each switch has

a little red light above it.

Now, to give you, the teacher,

an idea of the amount of shock

the learner will be receiving,

we think it's only fair that

you receive a sample shock yourself.

Is that all right?

- Uh-huh.

- Okay, just roll up your sleeve.

Life can only be understood backwards

but it must be lived forwards.

Good.

Now, I'll ask you to close your

eyes and just estimate for me

the amount of volts

you think you're receiving.

Okay, close.

This part, this part's where

the experiment really begins.

Now, if you will just use this scale

here to tell me the amount of volts

you think you received

in the sample shock.

Pfff, one ninety-five?

No, actually, that's incorrect.

It was 45 volts.

All right.

Okay, learner...

I'm going to read you the words,

and then I'm gonna

repeat the first word

and you're going to tell me

the pair for that word. Okay?

He doesn't have a microphone

but he can hear you.

Keep it moving, understand?

Remember that each time he gives

a wrong answer, you move up one

switch on the shock generator.

It is important that you follow

the procedure exactly.

Okay.

Okay, here we go.

"Blue girl. Nice day.

Fat neck. Green ink.

Rich boy. Fast bird.

Blunt arrow. Soft hair.

Cool cave. Gold paint."

In the first word.

"Blue:
Boy, girl, grass, bat."

Correct.

"Soft rug..."

- He finds his way into it.

- "Pillow, hair, rat."

With increasing confidence

he finds a rhythm, a groove.

That is incorrect.

Until...

Ninety volts.

- Um...

- Here we go.

"Gold:

Dollar, necklace, moon, paint."

Incorrect. One hundred

and twenty volts. Gold paint.

"Hard:
Stone, head, bread, work."

Incorrect.

One hundred and thirty five volts.

Okay.

"Wet:
Night, grass, duck, cloth."

Incorrect. One hundred

and fifty volts. Wet duck.

It really hurts.

Mmm.

How do you know

when a change,

a true and lasting change,

is about to overtake your life?

"...grass, man, girl..."

- Eighth floor, please.

- The same.

Are we going to the same party?

Probably. You know Doris Eissenman?

Saul Harwood's invited me.

Ah.

I've never heard of him.

Shall we continue talking or wait

till we're properly introduced?

You're a dancer?

Oh, well,

I studied, here and in Paris.

- But, uh... I work in an office now.

- Mmm-hm.

- What about you?

- I'm at Yale.

Limited dance skills, although

I did spend some time in Paris.

What are you studying at Yale?

I teach, actually. Social Relations.

Did you just give that guy there

your phone number?

So if I wanted your number

I can get it from him?

Social Relations.

- What does that mean?

- It's a combination.

Sociology, anthropology, psychology.

You know, basically covers

everything from

the way people talk in elevators

to the study of

role-playing, conformity, authority.

Rug,

pillow, hair, grass."

Incorrect. A hundred and...

sixty-five volts, strong shock.

Ah! Let me out of here!

I told you, I have a heart condition.

I will not be part of

the experiment anymore!

- He says he's not gonna go on.

- Please continue, teacher.

He says he doesn't want to go on.

Well, whether the learner

likes it or not, he must go on

until he's learned

all the pairs correctly.

Please continue, teacher.

Uh...

Calm down, concentrate.

"Sad:
Face, music, clown, girl."

Incorrect.

One hundred and eighty volts.

Ahh! Dammit!

Let me out, let me out!

He went all the way.

Most of them do.

"Sharp. Axe, needle, stick, blade."

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