Gina Perry

The true story of the most controversial psychological research of the modern era. In the summer of 1961, a group of ordinary men and women volunteered for a memory experiment to be conducted by young, dynamic psychologist Stanley Milgram. None could have imagined that, once seated in the lab, they would be placed in front of a box known as a shock machine and asked to give electric shocks to a man they'd just met. And no one could have foreseen how the repercussions of their actions, made under pressure and duress, would reverberate through their lives. For what the volunteers did not know was that the man was an actor, the shocks were fake, and what was really being tested was just how far they would go. When Milgram's results were released, they created a worldwide sensation. He reported that people had repeatedly shocked a man they believed to be in pain, even dying, because they had been told to – linking the finding to Nazi behaviour during the Holocaust. But some questioned Milgram's unethical methods in fooling people. Milgram became both hero and villain, and his work seized the public imagination for more than half a century, inspiring books, plays, films, and art. For Gina Perry, the story of the experiments never felt finished. Listening to participants' accounts and reading Milgram's files and notebooks, she pieced together an intriguing, sensational story: Milgram's plans had gone further than anyone imagined. This is the compelling tale of one man's ambition and of the experiment that defined a generation. 'A parable and a warning . . . a necessary and gripping book' Maria Tumarkin 'Remarkable . . . a compelling true story that fascinates and informs.' Lee Gutkind

the untold story of the notorious Milgram psychology experiments

Behind the Shock Machine

Dusti Bowling

Aven Green Baking Machine

An Irish Independentbook of the year. The fascinating true story of one of the most controversial psychological experiments of the modern era -- a real-life Lord of the Flies. Competition. Prejudice. Discrimination. Conflict. In 1954, a group of boys attended a remote summer camp where they were split into two groups, and encouraged to bully, harass, and demonise each other. The results would make history as one of social psychology's classic -- and most controversial -- studies: the Robbers Cave experiment. Conducted at the height of the Cold War, officially the experiment had a happy ending: the boys reconciled, and psychologist Muzafer Sherif demonstrated that while hatred and violence are powerful forces, so too are cooperation and harmony. Today it is proffered as proof that under the right conditions warring groups can make peace. Yet the true story of the experiments is far more complex, and more chilling. In The Lost Boys, Gina Perry explores the experiment and its consequences, tracing the story of Sherif, a troubled outsider who struggled to craft an experiment that would vanquish his personal demons. Drawing on archival material and new interviews, Perry pieces together a story of drama, mutiny, and intrigue that has never been told before.

Inside Muzafer Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment

The Lost Boys

When social psychologist Stanley Milgram invited volunteers to take part in an experiment at Yale in the summer of 1961, none of the participants could have foreseen the worldwide sensation that the published results would cause. Milgram reported that fully 65 percent of the volunteers had repeatedly administered electric shocks of increasing strength to a man they believed to be in severe pain, even suffering a life-threatening heart condition, simply because an authority figure had told them to do so. Such behavior was linked to atrocities committed by ordinary people under the Nazi regime and immediately gripped the public imagination. The experiments remain a source of controversy and fascination more than fifty years later. In Behind the Shock Machine, psychologist and author Gina Perry unearths for the first time the full story of this controversial experiment and its startling repercussions. Interviewing the original participants—many of whom remain haunted to this day about what they did—and delving deep into Milgram’s personal archive, she pieces together a more complex picture and much more troubling picture of these experiments than was originally presented by Milgram. Uncovering the details of the experiments leads her to question the validity of that 65 percent statistic and the claims that it revealed something essential about human nature. Fleshed out with dramatic transcripts of the tests themselves, the book puts a human face on the unwitting people who faced the moral test of the shock machine and offers a gripping, unforgettable tale of one man’s ambition and an experiment that defined a generation.

The Untold Story of the Notorious Milgram Psychology Experiments

Move over, Bert and Ernie: there's a new odd couple in town! Exuberant Peanut and steadfast Moe are roommates and best friends . . . most of the time. Peanut is messy. Moe is neat. Peanut is loud. Moe is quiet. Peanut always wants more. Moe always wants a little less. Can these two learn to appreciate their differences? With bright, bold, eye-catching illustrations and two adorable characters, Gina Perry has created a book that will appeal to all the Peanuts and Moes in the world -- whether they think it's too much or not enough!

Gina Perry

About

Books

Join the club