Zimbardo (1971) converted a basement in Stanford Uni into a mock prison. The participants were assigned roles and striped in order to receive new clothing – guards wore uniform with black-out glasses and handcuffs, and prisoners wore jumpsuits and were given numbers (which they were referred to as). Zimbardo observed the behaviour while acting as a prison warden. Guards worked 8-hour shifts and were not allowed to be violent to the prisoners. The observation (controlled, overt, participant) lasted for 6 days – meant to be 2 weeks long.
