Ethical Issues: Zimbardo Flashcards
1
Q
When did Zimbardos research take place?
A
1973
2
Q
What was his experiment called?
A
The Stanford Prison Experiment
3
Q
Who were the participants of the experiment?
A
university students
4
Q
What did Zimbardo want to find out?
A
- what happens when you put good people in a bad place?
- how easy is it to abuse power?
- how do people live up to the roles they are given?
5
Q
What was done before the experiment and why?
A
- psychological assessments
- check if participants are prone to mental illness, violence, aggression etc.
6
Q
What groups were the participants divided into?
A
- guards
- prisoners
7
Q
How did they choose who was a guard and who was a prisoner?
A
random allocation
8
Q
What ethical issues were faced by the experiment?
A
- deception
- privacy
- humiliation
- emotional distress
- harm
9
Q
How were the participants deceived?
A
- arrested by actual police
- blindfolded
- locked up
10
Q
How were the participant’s privacy invaded?
A
- arrested in their own home
- were stripped naked
11
Q
How were the participants humiliated?
A
- tasks such as cleaning toilets
- stripped naked
- push ups
- shamed by other prisoners
12
Q
What types of emotional distress did the participants face?
A
- some became zombies
- some were crying
- aggression
- violence
- breakdown
- rebelled against guards
13
Q
What results came from the experiment?
A
- found how easy it was to abuse power (guards)
- situations affect us more than we think
- “like being a puppeteer”
- shows that you should speak out if you think something’s wrong, don’t just watch
- brought human rights into prisons
14
Q
How long did the experiment last?
A
- 2 days
- should’ve been 2 weeks
- Zimbardo’s girlfriend saw experiments and told him to stop torturing them
