Conformity to social roles: Zimbardo's research

Question 1

What was the set up? Where was it?

Answer 1

-A mock prison was set up in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford Uni.

Question 2

How did Zimbardo gather participants? What was he picky about? How were the participants assigned to their roles?

Answer 2

• He advertised for student volunteers and offered them money for it.
• Whether they were emotionally stable
• They were randomly assigned to either ‘guard’ or ‘prisoner’.

Question 3

How did Zimbardo raise the realism of the experiment in relation to real life roles?

Answer 3

• Prisoners arrested at homes by local police
• Prisoners blindfolded, strip-searched and deloused
• Finally, they were given a uniform and a number

Question 4

What were the social roles given to:

• The guards
• The prisoners

Answer 4

• The guards enforced the rules and worked in shifts of three at a time. They were told they had complete power over the prisoners, regulated the prisoners routines and referred to them by their names.
• The prisoners had to follow 16 rules.

Question 5

Why did the study end after 6 days instead of the intended 14?

Answer 5

The guards behaviour became a serious threat to the prisoners psychological and physical health, as they were overly enthusiastic about their own roles.

Question 6

What happened after 1 and 4 days of the experiment?

After 2 days?

Answer 6

• A prisoner was released because of psychological disturbance, and 2 more on the fourth.
  -The prisoners rebelled and were punished by the guards.
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Question 7

What tactics did the guards use in order to highlight their own authority as guards?

Answer 7

• Harassed prisoners
• ‘Divide and rule’
• Did counts in the middle of the night
• Put a prisoner in ‘the hole’ after not being able to force-feed him on a hunger strike.