These experiments are related by having the individual to an anxiety inducing situation to encourage conformity. If one puts themselves into their shoes, it works on a logical level. Imagine a group of friends talking about the latest movie is horrible; however the group believes it is the best movie of the year. No one wants to be the odd-ball out of the bunch, and would bite their tongue only to fit in with the rest of the group. The group of friends will pick another friend that they all know, and start a joke that usually goes “So then he says, No soap, Radio!” which the friends will proceed to laugh. If the newly introduced friend laughs, the group questions it.

            However, the reasoning behind the conformity of the participants can be several, ranging from someone trying to fit in to not being the ‘idiot’ of the group. Even after the Asch Experiment was completly, skeptics were still around, questioning if Soloman Asch’s experiment was a good, viable test to measure conformity. Dr. Brian Knutson, a neuroscientist at Stanford and an expert on perception, called the study ‘extremely clever.’ “It had all the right controls and is a new contribution, the first to look at social conformity inside a brain magnet,” stated Dr.Knutson. Dr.Knutson even used functional M.R.I. (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners detect which brain regions are active when people carry out various mental tasks.

Similar to the Asch Experiment, there were actors, and one participant, and they all spoke with one another in the waiting room. It was when the participants entered the MRI machine, and requested to call out the image they saw. The moment the actual individual that was being experimented on went up to the machine, what Dr.Knutson found was amazing. What he discovered that the region of the brain that uses judgment, indicating that the participant had caved into the pressure of the other participants giving off the wrong answer.

Overall, the conformity experiment came in several shapes and forms, from Soloman Asch, to the “No Soap, Radio” game, to Dr. Knutson’s experiment with the MRI Machine. It begs the question if individuals are afraid of being humiliated in front of their peers by being the odd-one out of the group. If anything, we try to avoid embarrassment whenever possible.

Work Cited:

BLAKESLEE, Sandra. “What Other People Say May Change What You See.” What Other People Say May Change What You See. Web. 12 Sept. 2013. <http://www.zainea.com/socialconformity.htm>.

Minds, Changing. “Normative Social Influence.” Changing Minds and Persuasion — How We Change What Others Think, Believe, Feel and Do. Web. 15 Sept. 2013. <http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/normative_social_influence.htm>

“Solomon Asch Study Social Pressure Conformity Experiment Psychology.” Faith vs Reason Debate Spiritual Insights Quotations Quotes Aldous Huxley Perennial Philosophy. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/psychology/social/asch_conformity.html>.

“Milgram Experiment – The Milgram Obedience Experiment.” Psychology – Complete Guide to Psychology for Students, Educators & Enthusiasts. Web. 19 Sept. 2013. <http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/milgram.htm>.

“Asch Conformity Experiment.” Simply Psychology. Web. 16 Nov. 2013. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html>.

No matter where one goes, as humans, we are bound to the unspoken laws of normality that society has bestowed on its people.  Social Norm from a social scientist’s perspective is the tolerance towards actions, and can range from what a person wears to what the person says.  An example of someone deviating from the social norms is an individual who decides to break out into song at the local library; an environment intended to be quiet and academically enriching used for the purpose of entertainment. Albeit, the actual action can become an annoyance, but this is how breaking the social norm works by creating some type of annoyance, or performing an action outside of its intended use. Anthropologist Clifford Greetz discovered that many cultures have their own social norms to motivate people. While social norms is the level of conformity within society, and anything that deviates from the beaten path is frowned down upon.

In the early 1950’s, a Psychology major at Swarthmore College named Solmon Asch asked a group of students to participate in a vision test.  The students were then instructed to sit down in a room, and watch a piece of paper with three lines, one longer than the other. The students were requested to state the longest line out of the groupings, and all of the students came to the same conclusion. However, by the 5^th group of lines, the students started to call out the wrong answer, creating confusion within the group of students, and in the end, all the students arrived to the same conclusion of saying the shortest line was the longest. This famous experiment is called The Asch Experiment, also known as the conformity experiment.

The method used in this experiment was a rather simple one: implement 5 confederates, or participants who worked for the researcher, and ‘X’ amount of real participants. The confederates were instructed to give the correct answer up until the 5^th trial run and provide false answers. The experiment wanted to find out if people who are under pressure will fold under the majority even if the answer is incorrect. The results varied from the amount of confederates (Independent Variables), suggesting that the more confederates who gave the wrong answer, the higher the chance the participant will give the wrong answer as well.

There have been several experiments that test the conformity of an individual, from the 1961 Milgram Experiment to a game called “No Soap, Radio”(which will be explained later on). In the Milgram Experiment, a confederate’s posed as the ‘Victim’ with heart condition, and introduced to shocks, and the actual participant was the instructor, administering the shock. The Milgram experiment wanted to test how authoritative figures influenced decision making skills, and in this case, the person that was being experimented on was the instructor.

         At Gallaudet University, Dr. Evan Goodman, similar to Dr. Johansen, had a hypothesis that MDMA could be used to treat individuals with PTSD, but also Cancer patients. However, Dr. Goodman took a step further and found success in his subjects in which MDMA was used to not only treat individuals who suffered from PTSD, but also Cancer. In Dr. Goodman’s experiment, his colleagues, discovered several complications with this treatment, including legality, and the risks including serotonin depletion, anxiety, metabolic dangers, and panic.

                        However, some of the problems with using MDMA that I, as a Neuroscientist can see are the constant bombardment of Serotonin, and its dependency. Although, serotonin is linked to depression (low levels), it can also incite paranoia due to the agonist chemical, and have adverse effects on the patient. Another complication that should be taken into consideration is the long-term effects on a single dose of ecstasy. In primates, the serotonin axons in the dorsal cortex were damaged, and there was a reduction in its efficiency. “Humans who take MDMA also display reduces serotonin binding in the cortex (Semple, 1999).” In other words, damage to the serotonin axons can cause cognitive, and memory complications which could result in depression (Sumnal and Cole, 2005).

            In another article, The Maudsley Hospital at Denmark Hill, Londen, and Dr. Karl Jansen had also addressed the complications of MDMA dependence. Although MDMA, according to Dr. Jansen is a non-addictive recreational drug, there had been “three cases of dependence had met the criteria.” Dr. Jansen makes that claim that ecstasy can be an addictive drug in rare cases, but with heavy doses can cause neuronal changes. “In one case, dependence was linked with self-medication of Post-traumatic stress disorder. (Jansen, 1998)”

            All and all, MDMA could be a treatment in helping those who suffer from PTSD that allows the individual to self-medicate, and internally think to themselves about the problem. While MDMA shows positive results, scientists such as Dr. Johansen, and Dr.Goodman explain the difficulty in using MDMA for medicinal purposes due to its additive attributes. Besides the possibility of addiction, the increase of serotonin could induce a paranoid state, and have detrimental effects on the patient itself.

Cited:

World Health Organization (2004). Neuroscience of Psychoactive Substance Use and Dependence  World Health Organization. pp. 97-. ISBN 978-92-4-156235-5  Retrieved 16 August 2013

“DSM-5 Criteria for PTSD.” – NATIONAL CENTER for PTSD. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

Hellerman, Caleb. CNN. Cable News Network, 03 Dec. 2012. Web. 18 Sept. 2013

Cumming, P., M�ller, M., Benda, K., Minuzzi, L., Jakobsen, S., Jensen, S. B., Pakkenberg, B., Stark, A. K., Gramsbergen, J. B., Andreasen, M. F. and Olsen, A. K. (2007), A PET study of effects of chronic 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) on serotonin markers in G�ttingen minipig brain. Synapse, 61: 478-487. doi: 10.1002/syn.20377

J.C. Cole, H.R. Sumnall, Altered states: the clinical effects of Ecstasy, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 98, Issue 1, April 2003, Pages 35-58, ISSN 0163-7258, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0163-7258(03)00003-2.

(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0163725803000032)

Keywords: Ecstasy; 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA); Entactogen; Neurotoxicity; Cognition; Psychopathology

As the United States entered it’s 13 years at war with Afghanistan (excluding the previous 10 years back in 1990), the armed forces have shown what one is willing to do for their belief in freedom. However, with several tours under one’s belt, the constant fatigue of battle, anxiety, and the demands of warfare, some soldiers are not only returning injured, but also with some type of psychological abnormality.  According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: Fourth Edition (DSM-IV-RE), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is defined as a person that has “experienced, witness, or been confronted with an event or events that involved the threat of death, or serious injury” (DSM-IV, 2000). Although, this disorder could be traced back to World War I, millions of soldiers that had returned home could have suffered from PTSD. However, though it is in its infancy, MDMA, or the recreational drug ‘Ecstasy’ is being used to combat PTSD.

            The Central News Network (CNN) covered a story about Rachel Hope, a woman who has suffered from PSTD for years (4 years old). After being left with a once family friend who sexually assaulted her while Hope’s mother was on vacation, she had returned ‘different.’ However, this was not the only incident that contributed to her PTSD: at 9 years old, Hope was also struck by a delivery truck, and nearly died, leaving her partially paralyzed for months at a time. Even as a 33 year old woman, Hope still suffered from PTSD and with the assistance of a colleague, she found the help needed. While news networks are known to stretch the truth, and swayed by political affiliations, one is never really sure about what is exaggerated, or misinterpreted. However, there have been several Universities, and Psychologists who have conducted this experiment, but are in no way related to Ms. Hope.

            At the University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway, Dr. Johansen had written a hypothesis about treating Anxiety with MDMA, or Ecstasy as what it is known for. Dr. Johansen believes that with a combination of Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) which is commonly found in anti-depressants, along with MDMA could potentially help victims who suffer from chronic anxiety. Although, this is simply an experiment that has not been thoroughly tested either, one can hypothesize the outcome, which is what Dr. Johansen is trying to do.