Conformity to Social Roles Flashcards
What was Zimbardo interested in?
Conformity to social roles
What experiment is Zimbardo famous for
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Where was Zimbardo’s mock prison
In the basement of the Stanford psychology department
How did Zimbardo select his participants
Volunteers were screened and 24 of the most mentally stable participants were selected
How did Zimbardo allocate his sample
He randomly assigned them to the role of guard or prisoner
How many participants took part in the Zimbardo Prison Study
24
What happened to participants assigned as prisoners
They were unexpectedly arrested at their homes and processed in a realistic manner. On entry to the prison they were subject to a de-lousing procedure, given a prison shmock and given ID numbers. Prisonsers were given three meals a day,three supervised toilet trips and two visits a week
What happened to participants assigned to the guard role
They were given uniforms, clubs, whistles and wore reflective sunglasses to prevent eyecontact. Guards only referred to prisoners using their ID numbers
What role did Zimbardo take in the Stanford Prison experiment
The role of the prison superintendent
How long was the Stanford Prison Experiment Planned to last
2 weeks
How did the guards of the Stanford Prison experiment behave
In the first few days of the study they grew increasingly tyrannical and abusive towards prisoners. They woke prisoners in the night, forced them to clean toilets with their bare hands and had them carry out degrading activities.
How enthusisatic were the guards in the stanford prison experiment
Some were so enthusiastic that they volunteered to do more hours without pay
How did the prisoners of the Stanford Prison experiment behave
Prisoners became increasingly passive and accepted their conditions
Why does it seem that the participants of the Stanford Prison Experiment forgot that they were acting
Even when they thought they were not being watched they still assumed the role of prisoner or guard. When one of the prisoners had enough they asked for parole rather than asking to leave
How many prisoners had to be released early from the Stanford Prison Experiment
5 prisoners had to be released early becuase of extreme rections which started to appear after just two days
How many days did the stanford prison experiment actually last
6 days
Who had to intervene to stop the stanford prison experiment
Zimbardo’s wife
What was the BBC prison study
The BBC broadcasted a similar study as a documentary, where men were randomly assigned to either prisoner or guard in a specially created prison
What were the key findings of the BBC prison study
Participants did not conform to their assigned role as in Zimbardo’s study. Prisoners increasingly identified as a group and worked together to challenge the guard’s authority to create more egalitarian social relations. The guards also didn’t identify with their role, making them reluctant to impose their authority on prisoners. This shift in power led to the collapse of the prisoner guard system
Why does the Stanford Prison experiment have real world appliaction
It can be used to explain the events of Abu Ghraib, an iraq military prison notorious for the torture of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in 2003-4. Zimbardo believed the guards were vicitms of situational factors such as lack of training, unrelenting boredom and lack of accountability which made abuse more likely. Zimbardo agued that these factors and the ability to misuse their power led to the real life abuses
What factors may have been significant in causing the events of Abu Ghraib
Zimbardo believed that lack of training, unrelenting boredom and lack of accountability made abuse more likely
How may demand characteristics play a role in the stanford prison experiment
Demand characteristics like the reflective sunglasses which de-individuated guards, the smock and ID numbers which de-humanised prisoners all may have prompted guard behaviour. Banuziz and Movahedi presented details of the study to a large sample of student who hadn’t heard of the study, and the vast majority guessed the aim of the study as well as the way that the guards would act (hostile). This suggests behaviour was not a result of conforming to social roles
Discuss the ethics of the Stanford Prison experiment
The SPE is often criticised for being unethical, as the direct harm to participants goes directly against psychological guidelines, like the ones from the BPS. Zimbardo ackgnowledges it should have ended sooner but defends it on the basis that he followed the guidelines of the Standord ethics committee that approved it. He argues the study wasn’t unethical, but the participants were. Also the knowledge gained was greater than harm caused, as follow up interviews established that no long term harm had come as a result of the study, and it adanced the psychological field of conformity.
However Reicher and Haslam conducted the same basic set up as Zimbardo but took greater steps to minimise potential harm, creating a harsh and testing, but not harmful situtation.
Who created a more ethical version of the Stanford Prison Experiment
Reicher and Haslam conducted the same basic set up as Zimbardo but took greater steps to minimise potential harm, creating a harsh and testing, but not harmful situtation.
Who demonstrated that demand characteristics made the Stanford Prison Experiment predictable
Banuziz and Movahedi presented details of the study to a large sample of student who hadn’t heard of the study, and the vast majority guessed the aim of the study as well as the way that the guards would act (hostile)