social influence zimbardo's research (procedures)

Question 1

why did Zimbardo carry out his Stanford prison experiment

Answer 1

following reports of brutality by guards in prisons across America in the late 1960s, Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues wanted to answer this question -
“Do prison guards behave brutally because they have sadistic personalities, or is it the situation that creates such behaviour”

Question 2

how did Zimbardo answer this question

Answer 2

Zimbardo set up a mock prison in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University (Haney et al 1973)

Question 3

what kind of people were the participants

Answer 3

the researchers advertised for students willing to volunteer and selected those who were deemed “emotionally stable” after extensive psychological testing

Question 4

how did they assign the roles of prisoner and guard to the participants

Answer 4

the students were randomly assigned the roles of guards or prisoners

Question 5

how was the realism of the experiment heightened

Answer 5

to heighten the realism of the study the “prisoners” were arrested in their homes by the local police and then delivered to the “prison”

during this arrest the prisoners were:

1. blindfolded
2. strip search
3. deloused
4. issued a uniform and number

Question 6

how were the social roles of the prisoners and guards established

(social roles are parts that people play as members of various social groups)

Answer 6

prisoners’ daily routines were heavily regulated

they had 16 rules to follow enforced by the guards who worked in shifts, 3 at a time

Prisoner’s names were never used, only their numbers

The guards were given their own uniform complete with:
1. wooden club
2.handcuffs
3.keys and mirror shades
They were told they had complete power and prisoners, for instance when they could go to the toilet