Abraham - ein Versuch

A TV documentary about a series of experiments conducted by the Max Planck Institute in Munich, which constituted a slightly modified re-run of the famous Milgram experiments carried out in the USA. In the course of the experiment, a scientist permits “teachers” (the real guinea pigs in this case) to punish “pupils’”mistakes by administering electric shocks. Unbeknownst to the “teachers”, the electric shocks had been simulated, and the “school-kids’” screams pre-recorded. From the randomly selected guinea pigs, 85% inflicted the most severe punishment – 450 volts – in the first trials, 74% assumed no responsibility for their actions, and 15% thought the “pupils” were dead by the end of the experiment. A mere 2% reported having had doubts as to the authenticity of the experiment. All other guinea pigs believed that the “pupils” really had been tortured.