INTO THE MIND (3 Programs)
Over the last century scientists have devised many ingenious methods to unlock the secrets of the mind. In this three-part series, host Michael Mosley investigates some of these groundbreaking experiments, now considered classics in the field of psychology. Delving into CIA thought control projects, tests on children, and brain surgery blunders, this three-program series traces the history of experimental psychology from its dubious beginnings through to the profound new understanding it has yielded of emotions, free will, and the mind itself. A BBC Production
INTO THE MIND: EMOTIONS
Where do emotions come from, and why do we experience them? Is there a connection between reason and emotion? In this program, host Michael Mosley uses vintage footage and his own willingness to be a test subject to review classic and sometimes disturbing experiments on the nature of fear, love, and empathy. The discussion includes John B. Watson’s tests on 9-month-old "Little Albert", in which the infant was conditioned to feel fear; António Damásio’s findings on gambling, logic, and decision making; and the work that Harry Harlow did with monkeys and their surrogate mothers that helped change thinking about the value of cuddling a newborn baby.
49 minutes
INTO THE MIND: MIND CONTROL
In this program, host Michael Mosley provides an illustrated history of some of the most notorious psychology experiments ever conducted in science’s attempt to explore behavior, brainwashing, and free will. The survey includes Ivan Pavlov, his famous dogs, and his less-famous test trials on children; the CIA’s MK-ULTRA project, in which LSD was given to unsuspecting test subjects; and Robert Heath’s experimental psychosurgery on African-American subjects. Mosley also talks with B. F. Skinner’s daughter; a man who participated in Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiments; and a survivor of William Sargant’s electroshock therapy. Under the guidance of controversial psychiatrist David Nutt, Mosley even ingests psilocybin to explore its potential in treating mental illness. 49 minutes
INTO THE MIND: BROKEN BRAINS
Head injury, epilepsy, experimental surgery gone wrong - in this program, host Michael Mosley provides evidence that these medical misfortunes have helped break new ground in understanding how healthy brains work. Examples include HM, the victim of a botched lobotomy that left him unable to form new memories, but whose subsequent participation in studies significantly advanced knowledge of human memory; Paul Broca’s identification of a speech production area in the frontal lobes, illustrated by a visit to the Musée Dupuytren, where the brains of his patients are still preserved; and the case of a split-brain operation that cured epilepsy, but with an unforeseen result: the patient’s left hand seemed to have a mind of its own. 52 minutes
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