NAME OF THE PHENOMENON PSYCHOLOGISTS/ DATE DEFINITION/ WHAT HAPPENED

EXPERIMENTERS INVOLVED

Event Boundary Gabriel Radvansky Occurs when we sometimes tend to forget what we need
when we enter a room.

Frequency Illusion or Baader-Meinhof Arnold Zwicky 2005 The phenomenon in which people who have just learned or
Phenomenon noticed something start seeing it everywhere.

Dunning-Krugger Effect David Dunning and Justin 1999 A term to explain why ignorant people tend to boast about
Kruger their confidence in spite of being wrong, and wiser people
often have doubts about their knowledge.

Impostor Phenomenon Clance and Imes 1978 Pervasive feeling of self-doubt and insecurity. Individuals
doubt their accomplishments and experience a feeling of
being criticized as a fraud. Commonly seen on celebrities or
students who are constantly labeled as an academic
achiever.

Cryptomnesia Theodore Flournoy 1874 It occurs when an individual unconsciously retrieves a memory
but perceives it as a new inspiration.

Deja vu Edward Titchener 1980s The feeling of having already experienced the present
situation, even though it's new.

Lucid dreaming Frederik Van Eeden 1913 Being aware that you are dreaming while still asleep and
sometimes able to control the dream.

Synchronicity Carl Jung 1930s and 1940s Coincidences that seem to have a deeper significance or
meaning beyond chance.
Near-death experiences (NDEs) Raymond Moody 1975 Profound experiences reported by people who have come
close to death, often involving sensations of peace,
out-of-body experiences, or encounters with deceased loved
ones.

Telepathy J.B Rhine 1930s-1960s The supposed ability to transmit thoughts or feelings from one
person to another without using any known human sensory
channels.

Poltergeist Activity William G. Roll and Hans 1960s and 1970s Unexplained disturbances such as objects moving on their
Bender own, strange noises, or electrical disturbances, often
associated with hauntings.

Reincarnation Ian Stevenson 2007 The belief that after death, a person's soul is reborn into a new
body.

Telekinesis J.B Rhine, Joseph Banks Rhine 1930s The ability to move or influence objects with the mind alone,
and William G. Roll without physical contact.

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy John Money and June Faith 1976 Mental illness and a form of child abuse, in which the
Werlwas caretaker, mostly the mother, either makes up fake symptoms
or cause real symptoms to make the child look sick.

Remote Viewing Ingo Swann 1970 The physical ability to describe in detail events or targets using
clairvoyance or ESP (extrasensory perception)

Resurrection N/A N/A The dead brought back to life through miraculous
interventions.

Cryptids N/A N/A Animals believed to have existed but very few have seen or
has proven its existence. Records only come from stories and
 shared experiences.

Time Travel H.G Wells 19th Century The ability to travel though time backward and forward.

Time slips J.W. Dunne 20th Century Experiencing past or future events as if it is happening in the
present.

Shadow People N/A N/A Dark and shadowy paranormal figures.

Sleep Paralysis N/A N/A The inability to wake up and move during sleep due to
dreams or hallucinations.

Exorcism N/A N/A Rituals involving a spirit who possessed a person or an object
and exorcising them out of it.

Astral Projection Sylvan Muldoon 19th Century Out-of-body experience with one’s consciousness being
active and separated from the physical body.

Levitation N/A N/A Floating in air without any physical support.

NAME OF THE EXPERIMENT PSYCHOLOGISTS/ DATE WHAT HAPPENED ETHICAL CONCERNS

EXPERIMENTERS INVOLVED

John Watson 1920

1. Little Albert John Watson classically - little Albert was not
conditioned little Albert to reconditioned, his fear
fear a white rat. extended to furry things, and
he was permanently affected
 by the experiment

- there was no assurance that

Albert’s mother fully
consented to the experiment.

Wendell Watson and Mary 1939

2. The monster study Wendell Watson and Mary - as minors, the orphanage
Tudor at the University of Iowa didn’t protect them from the
wanted to know how positive potential harm of the study.
and negative feedback
affected the way children - the children weren’t
learn the language and they debriefed after the project
tried it on kids from the was completed
orphanage. 5 kids show early
- there was no real follow-up
signs of stuttering in both
on how they may have been
groups. They told the other
affected by the study long
group that they did not stutter
term.
and heavily criticized the
other group.

Complimented group-
nothing changed. They just
became more confident in
speaking. The kids with
speech issues didn’t lose
stutters but became more

3. Milgram experiment
4. Stanford Prison Experiment
confident in speaking.
Criticized group- became
more withdrawn,
self-conscious, and frustrated,
whether or not they stutter, to
begin with.
Stanley Milgram 1961 an authority figure ordered
participants to deliver what
they believed were
dangerous electrical shocks
to another person and the
participants believed that the
paid actor students were
actually being electrified.
1971 - The experiment had 24
Philip Zimbardo people, 12 people were
prisoners, and the rest 12
people were prison guards.
The experiment supposedly
will take 12 days but it ended
● The subjects believed
they were inflicting
harm on another
person, causing
potential
psychological harm.
● Subjects were not
given full informed
consent.
● The participants were
deceived.
● abusive behavior of
the guards.
● Zimbardo's role as the
superintendent
compromised the

5. Learned Helplessness Martin Seligman and Steven F.
Maier
in 6 days. study's impartiality, and
the guards subjected
the prisoners to serious
abuse.
They experimented on three ● it caused the dogs to
groups of dogs, the first group become depressed
(control group) were caged which is abuse.
for a certain time before they ● Dogs cannot withdraw
were released. The second from the experiment.
group were caged and were ● Dogs didn’t know what
shocked by the cage’s floor, the researchers want
they were then taught to to do and thereby did
press a button, which not consent.
stopped the shocks. The third
group of dogs were exposed
to the shock, but had no way
of stopping it. After the
conditioning, the groups were
each placed on a box that
had a short wall in the center,
dividing the box, one side
had shocks, the other didn’t.
The first two groups learned to
jump the wall, but the third
group made no attempt to
avoid the shocks. They have

6. Tuskegee Syphilis Study
7. Guatemala syphilis
experiment
8. Carney Landis Experiment
made a cognitive decision
that they couldn’t avoid the
pain.
US government 1932 - The study initially - Participants' informed
involved 600 Black consent was not
men – 399 with syphilis, collected
and 201 who did not - Participants were
have the disease. deceived
- Researchers told the -
men they were being
treated for “bad
blood,” a local term
used to describe for
several ailments,
including syphilis,
anemia, and fatigue.
- Only 72 participants
survived.
US government 1946 to 1948 nearly 700 men and - There was no informed
women—prisoners, soldiers, consent
and mental patients—were - The participants were
intentionally infected with deceived
syphilis -
Carney Landis 1924 Psychologist Carney Landis ● Did not respect the
found himself wondering if all dignity of the subjects
humans made the same ● Did not inform the
facial expressions when
responding to the same
emotions. Landis sought to
evoke genuine emotions in his
test subjects, and then
photograph their faces to
analyze their expressions.
Landis wanted to capture the
expressions that they made
when they felt negative
emotions in his psychology
experiments. He drew lines on
his subjects’ faces in marker,
and then created situations in
which they would experience
fear, pain, disgust, and
sadness. For example, he
would shock his subjects to
capture a photograph of
them in pain or disgust them
by making them stick their
hands into a bucket of live
frogs. For the final test, he told
them to behead a rodent,
and if they refused, he would
do it for them while they
watched.
subjects of all the
events that may have
occurred
● Did not respect the
rights of animals and
did not do the act in a
humane manner
● Did not check in with
subjects to see if they
were emotionally
stable
● Did not inform the
subjects that they
would be able to leave
the study if they felt
uncomfortable
● Instead of using the
physical to see how
they would react use
prompts to get a
reaction from the
subject.
9. Harlow’s Monkey Harry Harlow 1958 Infant rhesus monkeys were
Experiment separated from their mothers
and raised with surrogate
mothers made of wire or
cloth. The study aimed to
investigate the importance of
contact comfort and social
interaction in primate
development. Monkeys raised
with the wire mother exhibited
signs of distress and social
dysfunction, while those
raised with the cloth mother
showed more normal social
behavior, even if the cloth
mother did not provide food.
10. Rosenhan’s Pseudopatient David Rosenhan 1973 Pseudopatients feigned
Experiment auditory hallucinations to gain
admission to psychiatric
hospitals and then acted
normally. The study aimed to
investigate the reliability of
psychiatric diagnosis and the
stigmatization of mental
illness. Despite showing no
symptoms of mental illness,
the pseudopatients were
diagnosed with psychiatric
The monkeys experienced
significant psychological
distress from maternal
deprivation and social
isolation.
- Deception and the
potential for harm to
both the
pseudopatients and
genuine patients in
psychiatric hospitals.
- Participants were not
fully informed about
the risks and potential
consequences of their
involvement in the
study.

11. Bobo doll Experiment
12. The Blue Eyes/ Brown Eyes
Experiment
disorders and subjected to
involuntary hospitalization
and treatment.
Albert Bandura 1961 Children observed adults
behaving aggressively
towards a Bobo doll and
subsequently imitated the
aggressive behavior. The
study aimed to investigate
the role of observational
learning and modeling in
behavior. Children who
observed aggressive behavior
were more likely to replicate
it, demonstrating the
influence of social modeling
on behavior.
Jane Elliott 1968 Students were divided based
on eye color into two groups:
blue-eyed and brown-eyed.
Blue-eyed students were
privileged, while brown-eyed
students were discriminated
against. This segregation and
differential treatment aimed
to simulate discrimination and
prejudice.
- Modeling of aggressive
behavior in children.
- The emotional impact
of witnessing violence.
- The aggressive
behavior exhibited by
the adult models could
have led to increased
aggression or anxiety in
the children.
- The experiment
subjected students to
discriminatory
treatment based on an
arbitrary characteristic
(eye color), leading to
feelings of inferiority,
shame, and
resentment among the
brown-eyed students.

13. David Reimer’s Forced Sex
Reassignment
Throughout the course of the
experiment, Elliott
implemented various
discriminatory policies, such
as segregating the classroom,
limiting access to resources,
and enforcing arbitral rules
based on eye color. The
blue-eyed students were
praised and given preferential
treatment, while the
brown-eyed students were
criticized, ridiculed, and
made to feel inferior.
John Money 1965 Ron and Janet Reimer had
twin sons named Bruce and
Brian. Bruce was castrated,
given a prosthetic viagina
and raised as a girl, named
“Brenda”. “Brenda” struggled
throughout “her” childhood
with issues like gender identity
and bullying. “She” often
complained to “her” parents
about feeling like a boy, and
the secret wreaked havoc on
the rest of the family as well.
Once the twins entered their
- While Elliott's intention
was to educate her
students about
discrimination, the
experiment's approach
and execution may
have inadvertently
reinforced negative
attitudes and beliefs
about race and
identity.
● honesty in data
reporting
● the general ethics of
sex reassignment
surgeries on infants and
children. Reimer's
description of his
childhood conflicted
with the scientific
consensus about sex
reassignment at the
time
 teens, their parents finally told
them the truth about their
infancy — and for “Brenda,”
suddenly everything made
sense. Choosing now to live
as a boy named David,
Reimer went through
numerous surgeries to
transition back to being a
male again. The physical
stress, however, alongside
ongoing mental health
struggles, had pushed David
Reimer to the edge. He
attempted suicide multiple
times by his early 20s, and
though it seemed that his life
later improved — he
eventually married and
became a stepfather to three
children — Reimer
unfortunately died by suicide
in 2004. He was just 38 years
old.

14. The Aversion Project Dr. Aubrey Levin 1948-1990 - It is believed that the - The participants were
project conducted harmed physically,
approximately 900 mentally, and
“sexual reassignment” emotionally.
 operations in effort to - The participants’
rid the army of reproductive health
homosexuality, which were affected and
during this time was some lead to suicide.
considered a mental - the researchers did not
illness. inform participants that
- The project mainly there was no scientific
subjected homosexual evidence to support
male soldiers, the efficacy of
predominantly white therapies being
and between the ages applied in curing
of 16-24, and, on the homosexuality.
rare occasion, lesbian - There was no consent
women to various -
forms of unethical
medical experiments,
such as behaviour
therapy, chemical
castration, electric
shock, and in more
severe cases
‘sex-change’
operations.
- Some were chemically
castrated and some
were shown pictures of
naked men to show
neagtive assosiation
 between the two.

15. Thalidomide Drug Trials 1961-1966 -Thalomide was used to treat
women's morning sickness in
the UK that lead to their kids
having deformities.
- The drug was never
tested on pregnant
animals and was
directly given to
humans [not enough
clinical trials]
- The drug was not
tested enough

16. Emma Eckstein
Sigmund Freud - Emma Eckstein only - The participant
sought the help of was deceived
Sigmund Freud for - The treatment
stomach ailments and could’ve
a slight depression, the affected
famed Austrian doctor Emmma’s
decided to unethically health
use the young woman - There was no
in a series of consent
experiments.
- Freud repeatedly told
Emma that she was
being treated for
“hysteria” and
“excessive
masturbation,” two
habits that were then
 considered signs of ill
mental health.
- In one notoriously
disastrous treatment,
Emma was given only
cocaine and a local
anesthetic before the
inside of her nose was
cauterized. Freud
continued to “treat”
Emma for three years,
and exactly what his
intentions were with
the young woman
remain unclear to this
day.

17. Operation Midnight - Central Intelligence 1950-1965 - purpose of the - There were no consent
Climax Agency operation was to study - The participants were
the effects of LSD on subjected into drugs
people, and so taht could’ve affected
non-consenting them permanently
individuals in San -
Francisco and New
York were lured by
CIA-paid prostitutes to
safe houses, where
they were slipped
mind-altering
 substances like LSD,
then monitored from
behind one-way glass.
Over the next decade,
- Operation Midnight
Climax provided the
government with
extensive knowledge
on topics such as
mind-altering drugs,
surveillance
technology, and even
sexual blackmail.
Fortunately for those
unwitting test subjects,
Operation Midnight
Climax was shut down
in 1965.

18. Project MKUltra United States government 1953 to 1973 - meant to figure out the - There was no informed
best ways to consent
manipulate the mental - The participants were
states of citizens, and not infomed on what
then to “develop drugs there were
chemical materials subjected into
capable of
employment in
clandestine
operations.”
- Each experiment
involved subjecting
unknowing Americans
to things like
mind-altering drugs,
sensory deprivation,
verbal and sexual
abuse, extreme
isolation, hypnosis, and
other forms of torture.
Subjects were found at
universities and in
hospitals and prisons.