After watching the “Into the Mind: Mind Control” video ,https://vimeo.com/70864946, answer each question with at least 200 words.

 

1. Based on the information in Ch. 1 of Research Methods and Statistics and the video, what is the goal of psychological research?

 

 

 

1. Identify one landmark study from the video. What did the field of psychology learn from this study? What are some ethical considerations that should be considered?

 

 

 

1. Research Methods and Statistics discusses the concept of cultural factors in mental health research. How might this topic apply to Robert Heath’s experiment on psychosurgery on African-Americans? What is the current application of this study?

 

 

 

1. Based on the information you read from Standard 8 of the APA Code of Ethics (Research & Publication), which ethical principles do you think apply to the current study of optogenetics?

 

 

 

(transcript)

WHY DO WE DO THE THINGS WE DO? WHAT REALLY MAKES US TICK? HOW DO OUR MINDS WORK? FOR CENTURIES THESE QUESTIONS WERE LARGELY LEFT TO PHILOSOPHERS AND THEOLOGIANS. THEN ABOUT A HUNDRED YEARS AGO A NEW SCIENCE BEGAN TO SHINE A BRIGHT LIGHT ON THE INNER WORKINGS OF THE MIND. IT WAS CALLED EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY.IN THIS SERIES I’M TRACING THE HISTORY OF HOW THIS NEW SCIENCE REVEALED THINGS ABOUT OURSELVES THAT WERE SURPRISING AND OFTEN PROFOUNDLY SHOCKING. THE EXPERIMENT REQUIRES THAT WE CONTINUE. BUT HE MIGHT BE DEAD IN THERE! IN THIS FILM I’M INVESTIGATING THE INVENTIVE, SOMETIMES BARBARIC WAYS PSYCHOLOGY HAS BEEN USED TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE PEOPLE. HOW DOES IT FEEL, GOOD OR BAD? GOOD. IT’S A SCIENCE WHICH STRIKES AT THE HEART OF WHAT WE HOLD MOST DEAR: OUR FREE WILL. I DON’T THINK PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE THEIR BEHAVIORTINKERED WITH AND TOLD WHAT TO DO.THE PURSUIT OF MIND CONTROL LED TO SOME TRULY HORRIFIC EXPERIMENTS AND LEFT MANY CASUALTIES IN ITS WAKE. I ONLY REMEMBER THAT I FORGET EVERYTHING.BUT INVESTIGATING THE FORCES THAT SHAPE OUR MINDS AND OUR BEHAVIOR HAVE ALSO LED TO PROFOUND INSIGHTS INTO HOW THE BRAIN WORKS. EVER SINCE I WAS A MEDICAL STUDENT I HAVE BEEN FASCINATED BY PSYCHOLOGY, BY WHAT IT HAS REVEALED ABOUT OURSELVES AND BYHOW FAR SOME RESEARCHERS HAVE BEEN PREPARED TO GO. I’M ON MY WAY TO CARDIFF AND I’M FEELING APPREHENSIVE.I’M ABOUT TO TAKE A “CLASS A” HALLUCINOGENIC DRUG. IN THE PAST, THIS DRUG AND OTHERS LIKE IT WERE USED INEXPERIMENTS WHICH WERE DESIGNED WITH A VERY SINISTER PURPOSE: TO ACHIEVE TOTAL MIND CONTROL. THE DRUG I’M GOING TO BE GIVEN IS PSILOCYBIN, THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT OF MAGIC MUSHROOMS. NORMALLY, TAKING PSILOCYBIN WOULD BE ILLEGAL BUT IN THIS CASE, PROFESSOR DAVID NUTT AND HIS TEAM FROM IMPERIAL COLLEGE ARE DOING A SCIENTIFIC STUDY, THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE UK. AM I GOING TO ENJOY THIS? I THINK SO. MOST PEOPLE GET SOMETHING POSITIVE FROM IT. YOU’VE HAD NO BAD REACTION SO DON’T WORRY ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO FEEL. IT’S JUST A BIT ODD THE IDEA OF HAVING YOURCONSCIOUSNESS PLAYED WITH. YOU DO IT ALL THE TIME, DON’T YOU, EVERY TIME YOU GO OUT AND GET DRUNK? THE TEAM ARE EXPECTING PSILOCYBIN TO HAVE ASIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON ME SO I’M PUT THROUGH PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS. WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A SPIRITUAL PERSON? A BIT. AND WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS A MYSTICAL PERSON? NO. I’M GOING TO PREPARE THE DRUG NOW. THAT TINY AMOUNT IN THERE, CAN YOU SEE IT? JUST. THAT’S 3.5 MILLIGRAMS SO YOU GET TWO MILLIGRAMS.THAT’S GOING TO BE IT? THAT’S IT. THAT’S ALL IT IS, BUT IT DOES QUITE A LOT.SURPRISINGLY ENOUGH, DAVID NUTT BELIEVES THAT BY CHANGING THE BRAIN, PSILOCYBIN’S MIND BENDING PROPERTIESMAY HELP PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS LIKE DEPRESSION. BEFORE THEY TEST IT ON PATIENTS THE TEAM WANT TO FIND OUTEXACTLY HOW IT ACTS ON NORMAL BRAINS LIKE MINE. IT CAN BE QUITE DRAMATIC. THE LAST VOLUNTEER HAD QUITE A DRAMATIC RESPONSE AND SAID IT WAS THE STRANGEST EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE. HE SAID THAT HIS WHOLE SENSE OF SELF DISSOLVED AND HE ONLY EXISTED AS A CONCEPT. I’M NOT SURE I WISH TO ONLY EXIST AS A CONCEPT, BUT WE SHALL SEE. I AM STARTING TO WONDER WHAT SORT OF TRIP I’M GOING TO HAVE. I’M PLACED IN A BRAIN SCANNER SO THE TEAM CAN MAP IN DETAIL HOW MY BRAIN REACTS TO PSILOCYBIN. THEN THE DRUG IS INJECTED.THE RESULT? WELL, IT WOULD TURN OUT TO BE ONE OF THE STRANGEST AND MOST UNUSUAL EXPERIENCES OF MY LIFE. TODAY, DRUGS ARE AT THE CUTTING EDGE OF MIND CONTROL BUT DOWN THE YEARS SCIENTISTS HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITHMORE UNUSUAL WAYS TO MANIPULATE OUR BRAINS. THERE IS A LONG AND MURKY HISTORY BEHIND SCIENTIFIC ATTEMPTS TO CONTROL EMOTIONS, BEHAVIOR, AND DECISION MAKING. I THINK SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING STUFF CAN BE TRACEDTO AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY BY A RUSSIAN MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO. IN THE 1890’S BIOLOGIST IVAN PAVLOV WAS STUDYING DOGS, MANY OF WHICH HAD BEEN SNATCHED OFF THE STREETS OF ST. PETERSBURG. HIS EARLY EXPERIMENTS SEEMED TO HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITHMIND CONTROL. HE WAS STUDYING REFLEXES IN ANIMALS. PAVLOV WAS INTERESTED IN SALIVA AND IN PARTICULAR HOW MUCH SALIVA IS PRODUCED WHEN YOU EAT DIFFERENT SORTS OF FOODS. HE STUDIED IT IN DOGS. HE OPERATED ON HIS DOGS SO THAT HE COULD ACCURATELYMEASURE THE SALIVA THEY PRODUCED WHEN THEY SAW FOOD. TO PAVLOV’S IMMENSE SURPRISE HE DISCOVERED THAT THE DOGS WOULD SALIVATE NOT JUST WHEN THEY GOT THE FOOD BUT WHEN THEY SIMPLY SAW THE MEN IN WHITE COATS WHO BROUGHT THEM THE FOOD. THIS WAS UTTERLY UNEXPECTED. PAVLOV REALIZED THAT HIS DOGS HAD MADE AN ASSOCIATIONBETWEEN THE LAB COAT AND THE ARRIVAL OF FOOD. IT WAS THIS ASSOCIATION RATHER THAN THE FOOD ITSELF THAT PRODUCED THE SALIVA REFLEX. PAVLOV WANTED TO TRAIN OTHER RESPONSES AND AS HE DID SO HIS EXPERIMENTS BECAME INCREASINGLY BRUTAL. IN THIS EXPERIMENT THE BEAT OF THE METRONOME IS COMBINED WITH AN ELECTRIC SHOCK. OH, POOR DOG. THE ELECTRIC SHOCK IS GIVEN A NUMBER OF TIMES UNTIL THE BEAT OF THE METRONOME ALONE IS ENOUGH TO CAUSE THE DOG TO JUMP. THE PAVLOVIAN RESPONSE IS ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS DISCOVERIES IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. WHAT IS LESS WELL KNOWN IS THAT PAVLOV DIDN’T CONFINE HIMSELF TO DOGS. DISTURBINGLY, HE WAS ALSO INVOLVED WITH EXPERIMENTS ON CHILDREN. LIKE THE DOGS, SOME OF THE CHILDREN APPEAR TO HAVE BEEN OPERATED ON. IT’S REALLY VERY HORRIBLE.THEY FEED HIM JUST LIKE THE DOG AND THEY’RE COLLECTING THE SALIVA IN HERE.HE DID NOT LOOK HAPPY. IN THIS EXPERIMENT A CHILD IS FED COOKIES THROUGH A TUBE. THE EXPERIMENTER ACTIVATES A DEVICE TO SQUEEZE THECHILD’S WRIST AND AT THE SAME MOMENT RELEASES A COOKIE. LIKE THE DOGS, THE CHILD SOON DEVELOPS A CONDITIONED REFLEX. WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT IT HE OPENS HIS MOUTH WHENEVER THE DEVICE IS SQUEEZED. HE’S CHOMPING AWAY AS THOUGH HE’S ANTICIPATING THE COOKIE.LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A SCIENCE FICTION FILM. HARD TO IMAGINE THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED. THESE EXPERIMENTS ARE VERY DISTRESSING. BUT THROUGH THEM PAVLOV WAS ABLE TO SHOW THAT HUMAN REFLEXES CAN BE CONDITIONED JUST AS EASILY AS DOGS. ACCORDING TO PAVLOV OUR REFLEXES START BEINGCONDITIONED FROM THE MOMENT WE ARE BORN. AS WE PROGRESS THROUGH LIFE MORE AND MORE OF THESE CONDITIONED REFLEXES ARE IMPLANTED IN OUR BRAINS,BUILDING UP COMPLEX BEHAVIORS. AND ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND THE BASICS OF HOW THOSE BEHAVIORS ARE LAID DOWN,WELL, PERHAPS YOU CAN BEGIN TO ALSO CONTROL THEM. PAVLOV’S DISCOVERIES ARE FUNDAMENTAL TO MIND CONTROL BUT THEY ARE LIMITED. THEY ONLY CONDITION BEHAVIORS THAT ALREADY EXIST. BY THE TIME PAVLOV DIED IN THE MID 1930’S NEW TECHNIQUES HAD BEEN DEVELOPED IN AMERICA THAT PROMISED FAR MORE SOPHISTICATED MIND MANIPULATION.THESE METHODS ALSO HELD THE ENTICING POSSIBILITY OF BEING USED ON A GRAND SCALE. THE MAN BEHIND THESE DEVELOPMENTS WAS SO CONTROVERSIAL THAT HE WAS HUNG IN EFFIGY. THE VICE PRESIDENT DESCRIBED HIM AS “MOST DANGEROUS” AND THE FBI KEPT A DETAILED FILE ON HIM. I’M HERE TO MEET DEBRA BUZAN, DAUGHTER OF B.F. SKINNER… ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS SCIENTISTS IN THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY. HELLO. NICE TO MEET YOU.HE’S RECEIVING AN HONORARY DEGREE AT HARVARD HERE. HE WAS TERRIBLY PROUD OF THAT. AND HERE HE IS WITH A RAT. THIS AGAIN IS THE MACHINE BEHIND WITH A GAZILLION WIRES AND THINGS. IT’D BE ALL DONE VERY DIFFERENTLY TODAY. THAT’S MY FATHER PUTTING THE PIGEON INTOWHAT BECAME KNOWN AS THE SKINNER BOX. THE KEY TO SKINNER’S RESEARCH WAS THE SO-CALLED SKINNER BOX. HE USED IT TO CREATE NEW BEHAVIOR. IN THIS SKINNER BOX A PIGEON IS GIVEN A REWARD EVERY TIME IT PECKS THE WORD “PECK” OR TURNS FULL CIRCLE WHEN IT SEES THE WORD “TURN” APPEAR. THE PIGEON HAS LEARNED THAT WHEN IT PERFORMS THESE ACTIONS IT GETS FOOD SO IT CONTINUES TO DO THEM. AS IT DOES SO, THIS NEW BEHAVIOR IS REINFORCED. THIS PIGEON EXPERIMENT, AND MANY LIKE IT,DEMONSTRATED GRAPHICALLY THAT CAREFULLY TIMED REWARDS CAN REINFORCE, CHANGE, OR EVEN CREATE NEW BEHAVIORS. DEBORAH IS USING HER FATHER’S TECHNIQUE TO TRAIN HER CATS TO PLAY THE PIANO. LOLA’S NOT EXACTLY A VIRTUOSO BUT SHE HAS LEARNED THAT A LITTLE TINKLE EARNS A PIECE OF CHICKEN. I LIKE THE FACT SHE CHANGES NOTES, THOUGH. OOH, THAT WAS GOOD.TEACHING ANIMALS CUTE TRICKS IS HARDLY CONTROVERSIAL BUT SKINNER HAD DEFINED A PRECISE AND POWERFUL WAYOF MODIFYING BEHAVIOR AND SAID IT SHOULD BE USED ON HUMANS. HE WANTED TO APPLY HIS SCIENTIFIC METHODS OFPSYCHOLOGICAL MANIPULATION TO WHOLE POPULATIONS. HE WAS REALLY ESSENTIALLY TELLING PEOPLE HOW TO BEHAVE, HOW TO ACT, MAYBE HOW TO CREATE A WORLD IN WHICH PEOPLE WOULD ACT DIFFERENTLY FROM THE WAY THEY ALREADY ACTED AND I DON’T THINK PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE THEIR BEHAVIOR TINKERED WITH. I DON’T THINK THEY LIKE TO BE TOLD WHAT TO DO. SKINNER BELIEVED THAT MANY OF THE PROBLEMS OF MODERN SOCIETY COULD BE IMPROVED IF A RULING ELITE WERE TO USE HIS METHODS TO CONTROL BEHAVIOR. USING THEM WOULD REDUCE VIOLENCE AND IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY. SKINNER’S PSYCHOLOGICALLY CONTROLLED SOCIETYBRUSHED ASIDE AN INDIVIDUAL’S ROLE IN DETERMINING AND SHAPING THEIR OWN DESTINY. HE SAW BELIEF IN FREE WILL AS UNSCIENTIFIC NONSENSE. THESE VIEWS POLARIZED OPINION. ON THE 3RD OF MAY 1972, THE SAME DAY THAT SIX THOUSAND STUDENTS CHEERED HIM ON IN MICHIGAN,HE WAS HUNG IN EFFIGY AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY. HE VERY MUCH WANTED TO GET ACROSS HIS MESSAGE. I DON’T KNOW IF HE EXPECTED SUCH A RECEPTION

– WHICH WAS NOT ALL GOOD, OF COURSE –BUT CERTAINLY MADE PEOPLE SIT UP AND THINK. SKINNER’S UTOPIA NEVER MATERIALIZED BUT HIS METHODS OF BEHAVIOR CONTROL ARE NOW WIDELY USED IN EVERYDAY LIFE. THEY HAVE BEEN PARTICULARLY INFLUENTIAL IN THE WORLD OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT WHERE THE USE OF WELL TARGETED REWARDS TO ENCOURAGE GOOD BEHAVIOR HAS BECOMEAN ESTABLISHED PARENTING TECHNIQUE.SKINNER BELIEVED PASSIONATELY THAT BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION COULD AND SHOULD BE USED TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. BUT IN THE 1950’S WHEN HE WAS DEVELOPING HIS IDEAS RESEARCH INTO MIND CONTROL HAD ALREADY TAKENA MORE SINISTER TURN, FUELED BY THE RUTHLESS NEEDS OF WAR. BY THEN AMERICA WAS FIGHTING THE COMMUNISTS IN KOREA. AS THE CONFLICT RAGED A SINISTER NEW WEAPON EMERGED. I DID SIGN A CONFESSION RELATING TO GERM WARFARE. IT FIRST CAME TO LIGHT WHEN THE NORTH KOREANS PARADED THEIR AMERICAN PRISONERS OF WAR. HOW CAN I GO BACK AND FACE MY FAMILY? IN A CIVILIZED WORLD, HOW CAN I TELL THEM THESE THINGS? I AM A CRIMINAL IN THE EYES OF HUMANITY. THEY ARE MY FLESH AND BLOOD. THESE IMAGES REALLY DISTURBED PEOPLE. AMERICAN SOLDIERS DENOUNCING AMERICAN AGGRESSION.HOW HAD THE NORTH KOREANS DONE IT?HOW HAD THEY IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME MANAGED TO CONVERT THEM TO THE COMMUNIST CAUSE? HOW CAN I GO BACK AND FACE MY FAMILY? THEY ARE MY FLESH AND BLOOD. I DID SIGN A CONFESSION… THIS WAS A TERRIFYING NEW WEAPON THAT THREATENED THE FREEDOM OF THE WEST AND THEY GAVE THIS WEAPON A NAME: BRAINWASHING. A HUGE EFFORT WAS MADE TO TRY AND UNCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE COMMUNIST BRAINWASHERS. IN BRITAIN AN AMBITIOUS PSYCHIATRIST SOON BECAMECONVINCED HE KNEW HOW IT WAS DONE.HIS NAME WAS WILLIAM SARGANT AND HIS RADICAL APPROACH TO PSYCHIATRY INSPIRED BOTH LOYALTY AND LOATHING.HE ONCE SAID OF HIMSELF, “SOME PEOPLE SAY I’M A WONDERFUL DOCTOR, OTHERS THAT I AM THE WORK OF THE DEVIL”.SARGANT HAD A THEORY ON BRAINWASHING AND IT WAS BASED ON THE WORK OF NONE OTHER THAN IVAN PAVLOV.SARGANT HAD READ ABOUT ONE OF PAVLOV’S LESSER KNOWN EXPERIMENTS IN WHICH HE TRIED TO REMOVE HIS DOG’S CONDITIONING. TYPICALLY PAVLOV HAD NOT GONE FOR HALF MEASURES. HE HAD INDUCED NERVOUS BREAKDOWNS IN HIS DOGS AND FOUND THAT THIS RAPIDLY AND DRAMATICALLY REMOVED THE CONDITIONED BEHAVIOR HE HAD SO PAINSTAKINGLY CREATED. PAVLOV CONCLUDED THAT, DURING THE BREAKDOWN, ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS IN THE DOGS’ BRAINS WERE LOST. WHEN THE BRAIN REWIRED ITSELF IT MADE NEW CONNECTIONS LEADING TO DRAMATIC CHANGES IN BEHAVIOR. SARGANT THOUGHT THAT PAVLOV’S WORK WAS CENTRAL TO UNDERSTANDING BRAINWASHING – HOW SOMEBODY COULDCHANGE THEIR CORE BELIEFS IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. JUST AS WITH THE DOGS, SARGANT BELIEVED THAT WHEN A HUMAN BRAIN IS BROKEN DOWNCONNECTIONS ARE LOST WHICH THEN NEED TO BE REBUILT. HE DECIDED TO USE THIS INSIGHT AS THE BASIS OF A RADICAL TREATMENT FOR MENTALLY ILL PATIENTS.HIS AIM WAS SIMPLE; TO BREAK DOWN AND THEN REPROGRAM THEIR TROUBLED MINDS. MARY THORNTON WAS 21 WHEN SHE WAS ADMITTED UNDER SARGANT’S CARE.MY MEMORIES ARE LIKE SNAPSHOTS AND ONE IS OF THE ELECTRODES BEING TOUCHED TO THE SIDE OF MY HEAD, BEING GIVEN A GENERAL ANESTHETIC, SEEING AN IMAGE OF MYSELF IN THE MIRROR ONE DAY,SEEING A STRANGE FACE LOOKING BACK AT MYSELF AND BEING REALLY FRIGHTENED THAT I WOULD NEVER GET OUT. FORTY YEARS ON, MARY HAS RETURNED TO THE ROYAL WATERLOO HOSPITAL IN LONDON; ONCE PART OF SAINT THOMAS’S. ONE OF THESE ROOMS IS THE ROOM I RECOVERED IN AND IT WAS ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE AND IT COULD HAVE BEEN THAT ROOM, IT COULD HAVE BEEN A ROOM EXACTLY LIKE THAT. MARY’S PARENTS HAD ADMITTED HER TO THE HOSPITAL FOLLOWING A SERIES OF ROWS OVER A NEW BOYFRIEND. I UNDERSTOOD THAT I WAS THERE TO BE TREATED FOR AN ACUTE ANXIETY STATE AND I WAS TOLD I WOULD BE GIVEN SLEEP TREATMENT TO HELP MY HEAD TO HAVE A NICE LONG REST. MARY AND OTHER PATIENTS BECAME UNWITTING GUINEA PIGSTESTING SARGANT’S MORE RADICAL IDEAS.EVERY AVAILABLE METHOD IS USED HERE, ALL AT THE SAME TIME. SARGANT BELIEVED IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO USE A WIDE RANGEOF APPROACHES IF HE WAS TO BREAK DOWN ESTABLISHED PATTERNS OF THINKING. HE BEGAN WITH A PROCESS OF MODIFIED NARCOSIS. PATIENTS WERE PUT INTO A MEDICATED SLEEP FOR UP TO THREE MONTHS. THE PATIENTS ARE WOKEN THREE TIMES A DAY FOR FEEDING AND TO CHECK ON WHETHER THEY’RE GETTING BETTER. THEY WERE THEN GIVEN COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF DRUGS COMBINED WITH BOUTS OF ELECTRIC SHOCK THERAPY, OR ECT. 110 VOLTS FOR THREE SECONDSTHROUGH THE FRONTAL LOBES OF THE BRAIN. SARGANT WAS CONVINCED HE HAD TO USE ALL THE TOOLS AVAILABLE TO HIM IF HE WAS TO WIPE THE SLATE CLEAN. HE HAD ALSO SUFFERED FROM DEPRESSION AND KNEW IT COULD BE LIFE THREATENING SO THE RISKS WERE WORTH IT. IN ALL MY THIRTY YEARS I’VE TRIED NEVER TO USEANY METHOD THAT I WOULDN’T USE ON MYSELF. ALL THAT MATTERS IS DON’T DO UNTO OTHERS WHAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE DONE TO YOURSELF. FOR MANY PATIENTS LIKE MARY THIS BARRAGE OF TREATMENTSHAD A DRAMATIC EFFECT ON THEIR MINDS. I ONLY REMEMBER THAT I FORGET EVERYTHING AND THAT’S WHAT ECT MADE YOU DO. IN THIS BUILDING I SAW HER MAYBE FOUR TIMES, I VISITED MAYBE FOUR TIMESAND SHE PROGRESSIVELY GOT LESS AWARE OF WHO I WAS. ON ONE OCCASION SHE DIDN’T KNOW ME FROM ADAM. AFTER THREE MONTHS AT THE ROYAL WATERLOO MARY WAS DISCHARGED. SARGANT’S BELIEF THAT HER BRAIN, SHAKEN AND SHOCKED,WOULD REASSEMBLE ITSELF FREE FROM THE SHACKLES OF HER PAST, WAS WRONG.WHEN I LEFT I HAD GREAT BIG BLACK HOLES IN MY MEMORY AND I WAS SENT TO CONVALESCE TO MY BROTHER IN YORKSHIRE. A WEEK OR SO INTO MY STAY I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED THAT I HAD A BOYFRIEND AND I FOUND HIS TELEPHONE NUMBER AND I PHONED HIM UP AND HE CAME TO MEET ME IN LONDON AND WE’VE BEEN TOGETHER EVER SINCE. TWO THOUSAND MILLIGRAMS? YES. SARGANT HAD SHOWN THAT WITH DRUGS AND ECT HE COULD DISRUPT AND DESTROY MEMORIES.YET WITH PATIENTS LIKE MARY HE FAILED TO BREAK PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AND ALTER PERSONAL BELIEFS. THE HUMAN MIND HAD PROVED REMARKABLY RESILIENT TO CHANGE. SARGANT’S THEORIES ON BRAINWASHING WERE FLAWED AND REJECTED BY MANY BRITISH PSYCHIATRISTS. BUT ACROSS THE ATLANTIC IN THE UNITED STATES THE FRANTIC SEARCH TO LEARN THE SECRETS OF COMMUNIST MIND CONTROL CONTINUED UNABATED. IN RESPONSE TO THE THREAT OF BRAINWASHING THE CIA HAD SET UP THEIR OWN SECRET OPERATION, CODE NAME “MK ULTRA”. MK ULTRA EMPLOYED MANY OF THE LEADING SCIENTISTS OF THE DAY AND FROM 1953 THEY EMBARKED ON A SERIES OF INCREASINGLY BIZARRE EXPERIMENTS DESIGNED TO REPLICATE THE COMMUNIST BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUES. THEY SUBJECTED PEOPLE TO SENSORY DEPRIVATION, TOTAL ISOLATION, ELECTRIC SHOCKS. ONE RESEARCH AREA THAT SEEMED PROMISING WAS DRUGS AND ONE CLASS OF DRUG STOOD OUT FROM ALL THE REST. THEY SEEMED TO CHANGE THE WORLD. THEY DISTORTED VISION AND THEY WARPED SOUND. THEY CREATED VIVID HALLUCINATIONS. HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS LIKE LSD AND PSILOCYBIN HAD ONLY RECENTLY BEEN DISCOVERED AND WERE THE SUBJECT OF INTENSE RESEARCH. THEY HELD OUT THE ENTICING POSSIBILITY OF CONTROLLING ANOTHER PERSON’S MIND.PERHAPS THEY COULD ALSO CHANGE YOUR CORE BELIEFS. THE TOP SECRET OPERATIVES FROM MK ULTRAEXPERIMENTED ON THEMSELVES, THEIR COLLEAGUES, AND ON UNSUSPECTING MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. AND THE AMERICAN MILITARY ALSO ATTEMPTED TO HARNESS THEIR MIND BENDING POWERS.HOW DO YOU FEEL? I COULD RUN 100 MILES RIGHT NOW. IS THAT RIGHT? YOU’RE PRETTY PEPPED UP, HUH? BUT WHILE THE DRUGS WERE CERTAINLY MIND ALTERING,THEY WERE USELESS AS A FORM OF BRAINWASHING. THE EFFECTS WERE TOO TEMPORARY, TOO UNPREDICTABLE TO RELIABLY ALTER AN INDIVIDUAL. THE HUGE EFFORT TO PRODUCE A FOOLPROOF METHOD OF BRAINWASHING HAD FAILED,AND FOLLOWING THE END OF THE KOREAN WAR IT EMERGED THAT COMMUNIST TECHNIQUES WERE ALSO FLAWED. MANY OF THE SOLDIERS WHO HAD DENOUNCED AMERICA WHILE IN CAPTIVITY REDISCOVERED THEIR PATRIOTISM WHEN THEY GOT HOME. BRAINWASHING TURNED OUT TO BE AN ILLUSORY WEAPON OF WAR.FOR MANY YEARS THERE WAS DIMINISHED SCIENTIFIC INTEREST IN THE MIND ALTERING PROPERTIES OF HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS. NOW, HALF A CENTURY ON, THINGS ARE CHANGING. AS PART OF AN EXPERIMENT I HAVE BEEN INJECTED WITH PSILOCYBIN, THE ACTIVE COMPONENT OF MAGIC MUSHROOMS.PROFESSOR NUTT AND HIS TEAM LOOK ONAS THE DRUG RACES THROUGH MY SYSTEM. THEY WANT TO UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THE DRUG WORKS ON MY BRAIN. A TEN ON THAT SCALE IS EXTREMELY INTENSE. HOW ANXIOUS HE FEELS NOW.HE’LL BE HALLUCINATING CERTAINLY. HE MIGHT BE SEEING COLORS AND SWIRLING PATTERNS. PROBABLY SOME BODILY FEELINGS AS WELL, HIS BODY MIGHT FEEL SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. MAYBE A KIND OF FLOATING SENSATION. INSIDE THE MACHINE I WAS CONVINCED I COULD LEVITATE, MAKE THE WALLS OF THE SCANNER DISSOLVE,AND FLY UP TO THE STARS AT SUPERSONIC SPEED. IT WAS ALL RATHER BEAUTIFUL.OKAY, MICHAEL, WE’RE ALL FINISHED.ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF PSILOCYBINHAD LARGELY WORN OFF, I HAD AN UNCONTROLLABLE URGE TO TALK AND TALK… THAT WAS VERY STRANGE I HAVE TO SAY BECAUSE IT WAS SORT OF, I THOUGHT WHOA! AND THEN WHEW! IT WAS REALLY SORT OF A “WHOOSH” TAKE-OFF MOMENT.AND TALK…. AND TALK. IT SORT OF TOOK ME BACK TO WHEN I WAS ABOUT EIGHT YEARS OLD AND I USED TO RUB MY EYEBALLS IN AN ATTEMPT TO HAVE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCES. YOU FELT IT WHEN IT CAME. IT WAS JUST LIKE BEING IN A SORT OF STAR TREK THING, LIKE GOING INTO HYPERSPACE. THEN WOO! AS SOON AS YOU START THINKING EVEN SLIGHTLY BAD THOUGHTS THEN YOU THINK “I DON’T WANT TO GO THERE” AND ACTUALLY DRAGGING YOURSELF BACK FROM IT IS VERY DIFFICULT. BUT YES, IT WAS DEFINITELY STRANGE BUT YOU WANT TO GO OUT AND SHARE IT WITH EVERYONE. YOU WANT TO SAY “HELLO!” MY RESULTS WILL BE MERGED WITH SCANS FROM OTHER VOLUNTEERS TO IDENTIFY THE PRECISE AREAS INSIDE THE BRAIN WHERE THE DRUG IS ACTIVE. AND YOU SEE THERE ARE ESSENTIALLY THREE BIG BLUE BLOCKS. WHAT BLUE MEANS IS THAT THE ACTIVITY OF THE BRAIN, THE BLOOD FLOW HAS SHUT DOWN; AND WE THOUGHT – WHEN WE WENT INTO THIS STUDY WE THOUGHT THIS DRUG WOULD ACTIVATE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BRAIN TO THOSE BUT WE DON’T FIND ANY ACTIVATION ANYWHERE. ALL WE FIND ARE REDUCTIONS IN BLOOD FLOW. DAVID NUTT BELIEVES THAT THE AREAS OF THE BRAINTHAT ARE BEING SWITCHED OFF ARE CRITICAL TO THE EXPERIENCE I’D JUST HAD.THE BLOBS IN THE MIDDLE ARE THE PART OF THE BRAIN THAT TELL US WHO AND WHAT WE ARE. WHEN THESE WERE DAMPENED DOWN I WAS RELEASED FROM EVERYDAY CONSTRAINTS. YOU WERE ABLE TO BREAK FREE FROM THE NORMAL CONSTRAINTS OF WHAT YOU ARE WHICH IS, I’M A FATHER, I’VE GOT TO GET HOME IN AN HOUR AND A HALF, I’VE GOT TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM. THE FACT IT DAMPENS ACTIVITY IN THESE AREAS MAY PROVIDE CLUES AS TO HOW PSILOCYBIN COULD BE USED TO TREAT DEPRESSION. AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE THINK IS THAT IN CONDITIONSLIKE DEPRESSION OR MAYBE OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER WHERE PEOPLE GET LOCKED INTO A MINDSET WHICH IS MALADAPTIVE, THESE REGIONS MAY BE OVERACTIVE. SO MAYBE DAMPENING THOSE DOWN WILL HELP PEOPLE MOVE INTO ANOTHER MINDSET WHICH MIGHT BE BETTER. SO IF YOU WANTED TO SHIFT SOMEBODY WHO’S PROFOUNDLY DEPRESSED, HAS THAT MINDSET,SOMETHING LIKE THIS MIGHT CONCEIVABLY… IT’S CONCEIVABLE, ABSOLUTELY. WE NEED TO DO THE EXPERIMENTS BUT THAT’S PART OF THE RATIONALE, THAT IT HELPS TAKE YOU FROM THIS RIGID, MOTOR-IC PROCESS OF THINKING INTO SOMETHING THAT MAY ACTUALLY BE MORE POSITIVE. THE IDEA THAT YOU COULD USE A PSYCHEDELIC DRUG LIKE PSILOCYBIN TO TREAT DEPRESSION IS CERTAINLY SURPRISING. IF IT WORKS, THEN ONE ADVANTAGE IS IT WORKS FAST. WELL, YOU CHANGED IMMEDIATELY… WHETHER IT WOULD PRODUCE IMMEDIATE CHANGES IN A DEPRESSED PERSON WE DON’T KNOW BUT IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL, WOULDN’T IT?PARTICULARLY IF YOU COULD HOLD ON TO THOSE AND MAINTAIN THEM. IT MAY TURN OUT THAT HALLUCINOGENIC DRUGS DO HAVE A PART TO PLAY IN MIND CONTROL.BUT AS A THERAPEUTIC TOOL TO HELP PATIENTS THINK MORE POSITIVELY IT’S A FAR CRY FROM THE AMBITIONS OF WOULD-BE BRAIN WASHERS. IN THE 1960’S A NEW DISCOVERY WOULD UNCOVER A FAR MOREPERVASIVE AND EFFECTIVE WAY OF CONTROLLING PEOPLE. IT WAS FAR MORE SUBTLE AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ESCAPE. BUT HE MIGHT BE DEAD IN THERE.THE NEW APPROACH EMPHASIZED THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PRESSURE, OF THE SOCIAL CONTEXT YOU FIND YOURSELF IN. TO FIND OUT MORE, PSYCHOLOGISTS DEVISED ELABORATE HUMAN EXPERIMENTS,SOMETIMES WITH SHOCKING RESULTS. ♪THE SON OF JEWISH IMMIGRANTS FROM EASTERN EUROPE, STANLEY MILGRAM WANTED TO UNDERSTAND WHY SO MANY PEOPLE TOOK PART IN THE PERPETRATION OF TERRIBLE WAR CRIMES. MILGRAM WAS CURIOUS TO FIND OUT WHAT DROVE GERMAN SOLDIERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HOLOCAUST. HOW WAS IT POSSIBLE, I ASKED MYSELF, THAT ORDINARY PEOPLE WHO WERE COURTEOUS AND DECENT IN EVERYDAY LIFE CAN ACT CALLOUSLY,INHUMANELY, WITHOUT ANY LIMITATIONS OF CONSCIENCE? MILGRAM DESCRIBED THE MOMENT HE CONCEIVED HIS EXPERIMENTAS INCANDESCENT. IT WAS BEAUTIFULLY, ALMOST FIENDISHLY DESIGNED TO REVEAL UNCOMFORTABLE FLAWS ABOUT HUMAN NATURE. IT MADE A HUGE IMPACT WORLDWIDE. I REMEMBER AS A TEENAGER READING ABOUT IT AND THEN LATER WATCHING FOOTAGE AND IT HAD AN ENORMOUS IMPACT ON ME. IT INFLUENCED MY LATER DECISION TO TRAIN AS A DOCTOR WITH THE INTENTION OF BECOMING A PSYCHIATRIST. IT’S NEARLY 50 YEARS SINCE THE ORIGINAL EXPERIMENTAND TODAY I’M FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE MEETING ONE OF THE FEW REMAINING SURVIVORS. GOOD MORNING. GOOD MORNING. MICHAEL MOSLEY.&nbs