zimbardos stanford prison

• What is the name of the experiment conducted by Zimbardo?


  Zimbardo’s prison experiment
• What role did Zimbardo take on in the prison experiment?

  He was the lead researcher and superintendent
• What is a social role?

  A social role is a socially defined pattern of behavior expected from a person
• What did Zimbardo claim about aggression?

  He claimed aggression was situational
• Where did Zimbardo create the mock prison?

  In the basement of Stanford University
• What was the purpose of Zimbardo's mock prison?

  To see if people would conform to their social roles of prisoner and guard
• How were participants recruited for Zimbardo's experiment?

  Through an advertisement asking for volunteers who would be paid
• What characteristics did the participants of Zimbardo's experiment share?

  They were all intelligent, healthy, and middle-class college students
• How were participants assigned their roles in the experiment?

  They were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards
• What happened to the prisoners upon their arrival at the mock prison?

  They were unexpectedly arrested at home, deloused, and given prison uniforms
• How were prisoners identified in Zimbardo's experiment?

  They were identified by numbers, not names
• What procedures did prisoners undergo upon arrival?

  They were strip searched, deloused, and issued uniforms and numbers
• What instructions were given to the guards in the experiment?

  They were told to do whatever they needed to do to enforce order, other than physical violence
• What equipment were the guards provided with?

  They were given uniforms, clubs, sunglasses, and whistles
• What was the psychological effect on both guards and prisoners during the experiment?

  Both quickly lost their individual identities
• What action did the prisoners take on the second day of the experiment?

  They rebelled against the harsh treatments by ripping their uniforms and barricading the cells
• What was the consequence for the ringleader of the prisoners during the rebellion?

  The guards placed him in solitary confinement
• What was the emotional state of the prisoners during the experiment?

  Prisoners showed distress and needed to be released early
• What types of physical punishments were used on the prisoners?

  Physical punishments included pushups and cleaning toilets with their toothbrushes
• How long did it take for a prisoner to show extreme psychological distress?

  It took 36 hours for someone to go crazy, screaming and cursing
• Why was the experiment ended early?

  Due to extreme responses of prisoners and guards, the experiment had to be ended 6 days early
• What did Zimbardo relate his study to in terms of real-world events?

  He related it to U.S. military soldiers who murdered, raped, and tortured people
• What explanation did Zimbardo provide for the behavior of the guards?

  He said the role of guarding changed the individuals
• What term describes the influence of personal characteristics on behavior?

  Dispositional influence
• What criticism was leveled against Zimbardo regarding the guards' behavior?

  Not all the guards were unethical; most were nice, and only 1/3 were brutal
• How was Zimbardo's study viewed in terms of credibility?

  His study was very discredited
• What did critics point out about the research support for Zimbardo's study?

  There was a lack of research support
• Who partially replicated Zimbardo's study in 2006?

  Reicher and Haslam
• What was the outcome of Reicher and Haslam's replication of Zimbardo's study?

  The prisoners took control of the mock prison, subjecting the guards to harassment
• What criticism was made regarding the applicability of Zimbardo's study to real life?

  It was criticized as it may not be applicable to real life
• What do critics say about demand characteristics in Zimbardo's study?

  Critics say it was demand characteristics that influenced the participants' behavior
• What did one prisoner claim about his behavior during the experiment?

  He said he was trying to give the researcher something to work with and thought Zimbardo wanted him to be mean
• What were prisoners unexpectedly arrested at home given upon arrival at the prison?

  Prison uniforms and identification numbers
• What type of clothing were prisoners given, and how were they addressed?

  They were given smocks and addressed only by numbers
• What process did prisoners undergo upon arrival at the prison?

  They were strip searched, deloused, and issued a uniform and number
• What are the key aspects of the prisoner's initial processing upon arrival?

  • Arrested at home
  • Deloused
  • Given prison uniforms
  • Identified by numbers, not names
  • Strip searched