Conformity to social roles and Zimbardo's study

Question 1

ZIMBARDO- what are social roles?

Answer 1

that parts that people play as members of different social groups

Question 2

ZIMBARDO- what was Zimbardo interested in?

Answer 2

were the violent prison guards acting in such a way due to a sadistic personality, or did the situation cause it?

Question 3

ZIMBARDO- where did Zimbardo conduct the experiment?

Answer 3

the basement of Stanford University

Question 4

ZIMBARDO- what were Zimbardo’s participants tested for?

Answer 4

mental stability

Question 5

ZIMBARDO- when did zimbardo’s study start and end?

Answer 5

14th Aug 1971- 20th Aug 1971

Question 6

ZIMBARDO- how many applied and how many participated?

Answer 6

75 apply, 24 participate

Question 7

ZIMBARDO- where was the study advertised?

Answer 7

in a newspaper

Question 8

ZIMBARDO- how much were participants paid?

Answer 8

$15 a day

Question 9

ZIMBARDO- participants were all…

Answer 9

male

Question 10

ZIMBARDO- participants faced - due to -

Answer 10

deindividuation, loss of personal identity such as clothing and names

Question 11

ZIMBARDO- who set up the prison?

Answer 11

the guards and zimbardo

Question 12

ZIMBARDO- zimbardo played the role of…

Answer 12

prison superintendent

Question 13

ZIMBARDO- prisoners were taken to the prison…

Answer 13

in a police car after being arrested by an officer

Question 14

ZIMBARDO- what happened on day 2?

Answer 14

prisoners rebelled and guards began to punish them

Question 15

ZIMBARDO- what happened on day 3?

Answer 15

prisoner 8612 released after a breakdown, crying and shouting hysterically

Question 16

ZIMBARDO- what happened on days 4 and 5?

Answer 16

2 more prisoners released, others became mindless and obedient

Question 17

ZIMBARDO- what happened on day 6?

Answer 17

the experiment was terminated by Stanford ethics committee

Question 18

ZIMBARDO- punishments given included…

Answer 18

solitary confinement, placing blankets in nettles and dirt, being made to do push ups, clean the toilet

Question 19

ZIMBARDO- the experiment was unethical as it lacked…

Answer 19

informed consent

Question 20

ZIMBARDO- zimbardo being superintendent was unethical as…

Answer 20

it was a conflict of interest, as he was meant to watch out for participants’ wellbeing, but he couldn’t as he had also started to conform to his social role

Question 21

ZIMBARDO- the roles were allocated…

Answer 21

randomly

Question 22

ZIMBARDO- what did Banuazizi and Mohavedi say and when?

Answer 22

it was very easy to guess what Zimbardo expected participants to do, and so they acted artificially to please him, 1975

Question 23

ZIMBARDO- how many guards were actually brutal?

Answer 23

1/3

Question 24

ZIMBARDO- the strengths of Zimbardo’s study were…

Answer 24

external validity seen in Aru Ghraib, good control over variables such as testing mental state, the experiment was monitored by Stanford Ethics Committee

Question 25

ZIMBARDO- the methodological weaknesses of zimbardo’s study were…

Answer 25

easy to guess the demand characteristics leading to artificial behaviour, accused of exaggerating results as only 1/3 of the guards acted brutally, with 1/3 remaining neutral and 1/3 behaving kindly towards the prisoners.

Question 26

ZIMBARDO- the ethical weaknesses of zimbardo’s study were…

Answer 26

it lacked informed consent, zimbardo was superintendent of the prison which meant that he had conflicting interests, as he conformed to his social role but was also supposed to be looking out for his participants’ wellbeing.