zimbardo Flashcards
how many participants were there?
24
how were the participants allocated?
randomly
what gender were the participants?
male
what was zimbardo’s aim
to investigate conformity to the social roles of prisoner and guard
what sample did zimbardo use
volunteer
what kind of experiment was zimbardos stanford prison study
laboratory
what experimental design was used
independent groups
what rules were given to the guards
they had to wear guard uniforms and reflective sunglasses which dehumanised them
what rules were given to the prisoners
3 toilet visits a day, 3 meals a day, 2 visits from relatives or friends throughout the course of the study
what was one strength of the study
lots of qualitative data- film records, audio recordings, written observational data
what was one weakness of the study
used a volunteer sample with middle class standford university students - may not be able to generalise to the target population
criticised for ethical reasons - the participants were put under large amounts of stress
hasnt been repeated - low in reliability
after how many days did the study have to end
6
why did it end early
ethical issues - the participants were showing clear signs of distress and lack of mental stability
what did zimbardo find in his results
both conditions largely conformed to their social roles. the guards became aggressive and hostile towards the prisoners resulting in name calling and other verbal abuse.
the prisoners became rebellious - blockading their rooms, going on hunger strike, etc..
these results may explain why prisoners often show violence and aggression even though they don’t in their normal life
what is deindividuation
lacking a sense of individualism and no longer knowing the responsibility of your actions - making you more likely to conform to the group around you as a result
