Derren Brown

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/derren-brown-the-experiments/4od#3252139


Just watched this and wow, really amazing and freaky at the same time.  How scary to think you can be conditioned to believe that you have committed a murder.  

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

It was Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov that discovered he could condition the dogs used in his research to salivate at the sound of a bell rather than the presence of the food they awaited. This conditional response also works in humans.

One of the most controversial experiments in conditioning is known as Little Albert and was conducted in 1920 by American psychologist John B. Watson. Albert, a pseudonym, was just nine-months old when the experiments began. They involved a white rat which Little Albert was happy to play with when it was first introduced. Albert had no instinctive fear of the rat. Later Watson would make a loud clanging noise by striking an iron bar with a hammer whenever the rat appeared. The sound, not the rat, distressed the child. Within two weeks just the sight of the rat would have Little Albert crying. Watson's study was part of his belief that our behaviour is shaped by our environment and not handed down by genetics.

This programme shows us how nurture can play a part.  In the first part of the programme Derren used touch and sound to condition the feeling of guilt so when Jody was touched on the shoulder or he heard a bell ring he had the feeling of guilt.  In the next part Derren worked on doubt, so putting doubt in Jodys mind by people changing what they were wearing, moving furniture around, this made Jody question himself and think about what he thought he had seen.  This programme is definitely worth watching.