weirdexperiments.com

stories from the wilder side of science

Mad experiments Quiz

1. Which experiment crops up most frequently in the names of music groups?

a) Stanley Milgram’s electric shock experiment

b) The Stanford prison experiment

c) Pavlov’s conditioning experiments with dogs

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2. Psychologists’ laboratory investigation into nature of embarrassment in the 1970s required putting research subjects in an embarrassing situation. How did they do it?

a) The subjects had to suck a pacifier in public.

b) The research participants had to sing a schmaltzy out loud.

c) The experimenter pointed out the subjects’ unpleasant body odor.

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3. In the 1940s researchers first observed intoxicated spiders weaving a web. What substance led to the most chaotic webs?

a) Marijuana

b) Caffeine

c) LSD

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4. In the course of his exhaustive studies on worms, Charles Darwin also checked their sense of hearing. How?

a) Darwin played piano for the worms.

b) Darwin played the bassoon for the worms.

c) Darwin shouted at the worms.

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5. How often during intercourse is pubic hair transferred between men and women?

a) Almost always

b) In 17.3% of cases

c) Practically never

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6. In 1889 a famous French doctor claimed to have found a remedy for "the weakness of old age." What did it consist of?

a) Mistletoe extract

b) Ground up dog and guinea pig testicles

c) Powdered rhinoceros horn

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7. Which experiment of the celebrated psychologist John B. Watson resulted in divorce from his wife at the beginning of 1920?

a) Scaring Albert, a six-month-old baby

b) Measuring pulse rate during a strenuous physical activity

c) The maze experiment with rats (one of which attacked Watson’s wife)

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8. What conclusion did researchers reach in the first common cold experiment in England in the 1940s?

a) People who are cold catch cold no more often than people who are warm.

b) Colds occur more often in summer than in winter.

c) Women catch cold more quickly than men do.

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9. Which experiment crops up most often in cartoons?

a) The rat in the maze

b) Pavlov’s dogs

c) The Skinnerbox

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10. Who was the first passenger in a man-made flying machine?

a) An ancient Egyptian rat bound to a glider made of papyrus (picture on a wall dated 2600 BC)

b) A duck, a sheep, and a rooster in 1783 aboard a hot air balloon

c) Otto Lilienthal’s cat in 1890, before Lilienthal himself dared flights with his glider

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Quiz

"Do embarrassement researchers ask you to suck a pacifier in public?"

"Did Darwin play the bassoon for worms?"

Know the answers? Then you are ready for the mad experiments quiz.

Poll

The weirdest experiments

Visitors to this website voted for their favorite weird science experiment. The ranking:

1. The three Christs of Ypsilanti -Three men think they are Jesus. What happens when they meet?(1959)  full story

2. Diagnosing schizophrenics with spider webs (1955) full story

3. The hanging studies (1905) full story

4. Brilliantly saying nothing. Does anyone notice? (1970) full story

5. Staying in bed for one year (1986) full story

6. Crucifiying volunteers (1984) more

Editions

English

The Mad Science Book (Quercus 2008)
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German

Das Buch der verrückten Experimente (Bertelsmann 2004)
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Das neue Buch der verrückten Experimente (Bertelsmann 2009)
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Dutch

Bizarre Wetenschap (Elmar 2004)
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Willen Weten (Elmar 2010)
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Swedish

De Galna Experimentens Bok (Fahrenheit 2006)
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Corean

매드 사이언스 북 (Puriwa Ipari 2008)

Polish

111 najbardziej szalonych eksperymentów (Proszynski 2009)
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Chinese

疯狂实验史(新知文库;) (SDX Joint Publishing Company 2009)
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