zimbardo

Question 1

how long was the study planned to take, when was it cancelled and why?

Answer 1

• planned to take two weeks.
• cancelled 6 days in due to concerns about participants’ mental health.

Question 2

why does zimbardo’s own data not support his claim that people perform social roles?

Answer 2

• only one third of participants assigned guard displayed aggression.
• prisoners attempted rebellion.

Question 3

what did the stanford prison experiment set out to test?

Answer 3

• if the high levels of aggression in american prisons is due to conformity to social roles.

Question 4

why do zimbardo’s (and asch and milgram’s) studies suffer from gender bias?

Answer 4

• only used males.
• assumed data would be same for females.
• women may have responded differently if tested.

Question 5

what is another explanation (not conformity to social roles) for the behaviour observed in the SPE?

Answer 5

• prisoners and guards were play-acting according to TV stereotypes of prison roles, which could of been due to demand characteristics.

Question 6

what does it mean to say zimbardo played a “dual role”?

Answer 6

• both the head investigator and the prison superintendent; resulted in loss of objectivity and likely resulted in psychological harm for participants.

Question 7

what about american prisons today may mean that zimbardo’s study may have failed?

Answer 7

• still as aggressive.
• unlikely SPE had any real-word impact.

Question 8

why is the sample in the SPE considered “volunteer”?

Answer 8

• participants spotted advertisement in newspaper and put themselves forward.

Question 9

SPE is considered unethical; if it was to be repeated, who would authorise a replication, and how would they decide?

Answer 9

• ethics committee.
• base their decision on a cost-benefit analysis, weighing up harms to potential benefits to society.

Question 10

briefly describe the conclusions of the SPE.

Answer 10

• situational environments (such as prisons) can radically alter the behaviour of previously stable individuals.
• due to individuals changing to conform to socially defined roles.

Question 11

briefly describe the findings of the SPE.

Answer 11

• prisoners and guards conformed to social roles quickly.
• after two days, prisoners revolted against poor treatment.

Question 12

what is an alternate explanation for the aggression in american prisons?

Answer 12

• violent offenders bringing aggression to prison and officers needing to use aggression as a required method of controlling dangerous individuals.

Question 13

briefly describe the method of the SPE.

Answer 13

• volunteers assessed as mentally stable randomly assigned as prisoners or guards.
• prisoners given realistic arrests at home and fingerprinted, stripped, deloused and given uniforms with number.
• guards given complete control along with uniforms, mirrored shades, clubs and handcuffs.