Can we control and manipulate human be havior?
I am reminded of Dr. Elving Anderson’s address to the A.S.A. a few years ago (1966). In discussing genetic control he suggested that it is not a question of can we or should we control-we are already doing it! In the case of psychological manipulation, some of the techniques are exceptionally subtle. Not only du we control behavior now, but as research coistinues-and I doubt that it would be possible or desirable to stop such studies-our abilities to control and manipulate behavior will be even greater. 2. What are the dangers in our ability to control and manipulate behavior? The danger is not in the research findings but in their potential misuse. A few years ago, a physicist, Dr. A. R. Oppenheimer, in addressing members of the American Psychological Association, gave a similar warning. “The psychologist can hardly do anything without realizing that for him the acquisition of knowledge opens up the most terrifying prospects of controlling what people do and how they think and bow the
