Zimbardo

• Aim


  To investigate the effects of being assigned to the role of either guard or prisoner
• Participants


  A newspaper advert asked for male volunteers to participate in a study of 'prison life' - 75 responded and 24 were selected
• Procedure


  Ppts were randomly assigned the role of guard or prisoner (coin toss) and were paid $15 a day

  
  

  They signed a contract guaranteeing basic living needs but had to have some basic rights suspended

  
  

  No one was told what to expect or how to behave

  
  

  The guards worked in 3-man 8 hour shifts
• Prisoners' procedure


  - arrested at their homes by real police officers

  - charged with burglary or armed robbery

  - put in a police car and stripped & devoured upon arrival at Stanford Prison

  - made to stand alone and naked in the 'yard
• Prisoners' uniform


  - cap to replicate shaven head

  - smock

  - no underwear

  - only referred to by number
• Guards' uniform


  - baton to symbolise power

  - khaki military uniform

  - sunglasses to hide identity & reflect prisoners
• Results

  The experiment was stopped after 6 days because of how much the guard to prisoner abuse had escalated

  
  

  5 prisoners were released due to extreme emotional distress

  
  

  Some guards seemed distressed when the experiment ended
• Conclusions


  The guards and prisoners showed behaviour that fit their assigned roles, supporting the situational hypothesis
• 2 positive evaluations


  - high controls —> lab experiment where everything was filmed and recorded

  - usefulness —> learned how quickly people can conform to social roles
• 2 negative evaluations


  - ethics —> ppts were fully debriefed but offered no support after the experiment and had very severe reactions

  - experimenter bias —> Zimbardo got lost in his superintendent role