Yale Experiment News Today

>> everybody is torn. nobody thought that this was a lot of fun or something they enjoy doing. but they could not find a way to stop themselves from going along with it. >> the blind obedience in this case is being compared to the behavior of german soldiers ordered to commit atrocities insisted nazi concentration camps. in fact the shows whole premise is based on an experiment from yale back from the 1960s, which used a similar method. in the yale experiment, the people inflicting the painful s...

Well, they say the power of television made them do it. the whole thing was part of an experiment shown in a french documentary called "the game of death." where contestants believed they were giving dangerous electric shocks to other players. actually, those victims were actors. but the disturbing results were all too real. randi kaye has more. >> reporter: its called "the game of death" and its torture to play. on this french game show, contestants pose a question, but heres the catch, if thei...

In the yale experiment, the people inflicting the painful shocks thought the electricity was real, too. that didnt stop two-thirds of them from giving the maximum shock available, 400 volts. >> most people will in fact act in this horrendous way and press the shock levers that they think is delivering very dangerous, if not, lethal electric shocks to another person. the moral there is not that people are horrible or that were brutal or sadistic individuals, the lesson is, really that in certain ...

Question, but heres the catch, if their fellow player gets the answer wrong, hes zapped with increasing amounts of electricity, as much as 460 volts. the more wrong answers, the more voltage, the more pain. the audience shouts for more punishment. some contestants are reluctant, but are swayed by the audience, demanding higher voltage. but heres what the audience and contestants dont know there is no electricity, no pain inflicted. the players tortured for their wrong answers are really actors h...

Wrong answers are really actors hired to play the part. their screams of agony, fake. in fact, this really wasnt a game show at all. but in an experiment about how far some people are willing to go to inflict pain on a complete stranger. >> amazingly, only 16 out of 80 refused to inflict pain on the others. >> theyre in a situation where they have to act quickly. they cant stop and think about what is the right thing do. they have to act right now. all of those things lead people to respond to t...

All of those things lead people to respond to the situational queues. >> reporter: the show is part a documentary airing on french tv, which examines what its tv called tvs mind-numbing power. and the striking willing humanness to obey orders. when it was over and contestants were told it was all an experiment, some said they didnt even think about it. they just followed orders. others said they were worried but did not want to spoil the show. so they acted against their own principles when orde...

That didnt stop two-thirds of them from giving the maximum shock available, 400 volts. >> most people will in fact act in this horrendous way and press the shock levers they think are delivering very dangerous if not lethal electric shocks to another person. the moral there is not that people are brutal or sadistic individuals, the lesson is really that in certain circumstances, in the right situation, the average typical well-adjusted person will act in these horrendous ways. >> reporter: one a...

The more wrong answers, the more voltage, the more pain. the audience shouts for more punishment. some contestants are reluctant. but are swayed by the audience demanding higher voltage. but heres what the audience and contestants dont know, there is no electricity, no pain inflicted. the players tortured for their wrong answers are really actors hired to play the part. their screams of agony, fake. in fact, this really wasnt a game show at all but an experiment about how far some people are wil...

Demonstratery, airing on french tv, which is part of the mind numbing morality and the striking human willingness to obey orders. when it was over and contestants were told it was just an experiment, some said they didnt even think about it, they just followed orders. some said they were worried but didnt want to spoil the show and so they acted against their own principles when asked to do something extreme. >> nobody thought this was a lot of fun or something they enjoyed doing, but they could...

>> it does show something about the power of television or the power of the desire to be famou famous. >> i think youre right. it gets under our skin. its about something as meaningless as television and fame and a show. so its not even about an experiment. the original study was with doctors in white coats who were sort of imbued with authority. this is a good looking talk show host. >> its as if howie mandel has the power of life and death. >> thats really unsettling. nothing against howie. >>...