On Trapping Children in Refrigerators for Science, 1958
Success in escaping was dependent on the device, a child's age and size and his behavior. It was also influenced by the educational level of the parents, a higher rate of success being associated with fewer years of education attained by mother and father combined. Three major types of behavior were observed: (1) inaction, with no effort or only slight effort to get out (24%); (2) purposeful effort to escape (39%); (3) violent action both directed toward escape and undirected (37%).
Some of the children made no outcry (6% of the 2-year-olds and 50% of the 5-year-olds). Not all children pushed. When tested with devices where pushing was appropriate, 61% used this technique. Some children had curious twisting and twining movements of the fingers or clenching of the hands. When presented with a gadget that could be grasped, some (18%) pulled, a few (9%) pushed, but 40% tried to turn it like a doorknob.
…
A follow-up study of 96 test subjects, 8 months after the tests, by interviews with the mothers showed very little obvious residual effect. Reversion to infantile behavior was not found. A number of children still talked about the tests, some with pleasure, a few with resentment. Mothers were not aware of more than ephemeral emotional upset in any of the children.
Reasons for the low level of anxiety engendered by the tests may lie in the precautions taken and in factors inherent in the situation; the parents were not involved in the incident, which enabled them to be calm and casual with the children.
Lots to learn here. [Thanks, Carrie!]
"Next, let's tell them that their parents are dead and another family is moving into their house today."
@Hot mayonnaise And 12 months later, they showed remarkably little resentment!
The outcry results were significantly higher when the refrigerator was replaced with an oven.
Children getting stuck in refrigerators always reminds me of that "very special episode" of Punky Brewster where they play hide and seek and her BFF Cherie gets stuck in one and almost dies. TRAUMATIC.
Also, I think I just showed my age here. Oops.
http://youtu.be/lgbZPTdbLys (part 1 of 2)
@LastMinuteLulu No, I'm exactly the same. And the reason Cherie almost died was because Punky was goofing off and not paying attention in CPR class at school that week, so didn't know how to revive her! And knowing is half the battle.
(GI Joooooooe!)
@LastMinuteLulu I totally remember that episode of Punky Brewster!
How are those test subjects not damaged in some way though? Just thinking about it is making me totally claustrophobic. I think I need to open a window, and I've never been trapped inside of anything.
@punkahontas: They very well could be damaged – PTSD style.
The scariest thing that happened to me as a little kid was getting stuck in an tunnel I was trying to dig through a snowdrift. Like being trapped in a freezer.
Many decades ago, when I was about 5, my babysitters thought it would be fun to lock me in a free-standing metal closet and bang on it endlessly. End result? Lifelong anxiety and crippling claustrophobia. I do not take elevators, fly in airplanes, etc.
@SOH555 The twist? You grew up to be Alfred Hitchcock.
You're so welcome!!! I hope everyone has a great day and doesn't throw up from empathetic terror at all now!!!
(empathic? whatever.)
@Carrie Hill Wilner: empathical
Scientific research sounds like it was waaaay more fun and interesting before all those pesky IRBs and protections of human subjects were put into place.
I miss Pediatric Fear Factor. I wish they'd never cancelled it!
@atipofthehat I always thought making the baby girls wear bikinis while hanging from a helicopter was pushing it. I could watch babies eat bugs for hours though with all those great sour puss faces they make.
@atipofthehat Toddlers & Tiaras. Same thing.
"With sound recordings available on all children it was possible to determine the vocal response they made to entrapment (Table VIII). Some children were silent, with a range from only 6% of the 2-year-olds to 50% of the 5-year-olds. About a quarter of the children screamed, the younger children more often showing this behavior than the older ones. Many of the children called for help."
I was curious about the parental education/escape success correlation, wondering if the authors decided that dumb parents have wilier kids or something. Instead they say that "parents with no more than grade or high school education may give their children more opportunity to play independently than parents with college or advanced degrees."
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