Reicher and Haslam (BBC prison study) Flashcards
From the Reicher and Haslam study, describe the ways in which the guards failed to identify with their roles. [4]
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Describe what is meant by the term ‘tyranny’. [2]
Tyranny is the arbitrary exercise of power used to oppress people. For example, many regard Adolf Hitler as the leader of the Nazi party during WW2 as a tyrant and an oppressive man.
Describe the screening process in Reicher and Haslam’s study that reduced the initial pool of 332 applicants to 27 participants. [2]
A self-selected sample obtained 332 applicants which then went on to experience of a weekend of assessments, including psychometric testing, medical history checks and character and references. Those selected were people deemed mentally stable enough to cope with the experiment and those supposedly psychologically similar.
From the Reicher and Haslam study, outline two reasons why the prisoners were given uniforms. [4]
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Describe one way the study by Reicher and Haslam was ecologically valid and one way in which the study lacked ecological validity. [4]
The study can be considered ecologically valid because Reicher and Haslam created a realistic-looking prison, with cells, living quarters, guard’s mess exercise area etc to make the situation feel more like a real prison to the participants. However, it could also be considered lacking in ecological validity because they had been told they had the right to withdraw, which is something real prisoners certainly do not have.
There were three independent variables tested across the 8 days in Reicher and Haslam’s study. Identify two of them. [2]
One independent variable was the participant’s belief about permeability of group boundaries. Another is the participant’s belief about the legitimacy of group divisions.
Outline how the behaviour of the prisoners changed once the groups became ‘impermeable’. [2]
Once the prisoners were told they could no longer be promoted to guard status, they began to develop group coherence. This was because they were no longer competing against each other for the guard position and instead they all identified with one another, as they shared the same values and were all in the same position of being prisoner.
