Zimbardo Flashcards
what was the aim of Zimbardo’s study ?
To investigate how readily people would conform to the social roles in a simulated environment, and specifically, to investigate why ‘good people do bad things’.
what was Zimbardo’s sample?
24 male undergraduate students,paid and volenterered
where and when?
The basement of the Stanford University psychology building was converted into a simulated prison.1971
procedre?
Both prisoners and guards had to wear uniforms.Prisoners were only referred to by their assigned number.Guards were given props like handcuffs and sunglasses (to make eye contact with prisoners impossible and to reinforce the boundaries
between the two social roles within the established social hierarchy).No one was allowed to leave the simulated prison.
Guards worked eight hour shifts, while the others remained on call.Prisoners were only allowed in the hallway which acted as their yard,and to the toilet. The guards were allowed to control such behaviour, in order to emphasise their complete power over the prisoners!
No physical violence was permitted, in line with ethical guidelines and to prevent complete overruling.
The behaviour of the participants was observed.
explain the findings of zimbardo?
Identification occurred very fast, as both the prisoners and guards adopted their new roles and played their part in a short amount of time, despite the apparent disparity between the two social roles.Guards began to harass and torment prisoners in harsh and aggressive ways – they later reported to have enjoyed doing so and
relished in their new-found power and control.
Prisoners would only talk about prison issues (forgetting about their previous real life), and snitch on other prisoners to the guards to please them. This is significant evidence to suggest that the prisoners believed that the prison was real, and were not acting simply due to demand characteristics. They would even defend the guards when other prisoners broke the rules, reinforcing their social roles as prisoner and guard, despite it
not being real. The guards became more demanding of obedience and assertiveness towards the prisoners while the prisoners become more submissive. This suggests that the respective social roles
became increasingly internalised.
explain real life applications and Zimbardo ?
This research changed the way US prisons are run e.g. young prisoners are no longer kept with adult prisoners
to prevent the bad behaviour perpetuating. Beehive-style prisons, where all cells are under constant surveillance from a central monitoring unit, are also not used in modern times, due to such setups increasing the effects of institutionalisation and over exaggerating the differences in social roles between prisoners and
guards.
explain zimbardo and debriefing
participants were fully and completely debriefed about
the aims and results of the study. This is particularly important when considering that the BPS ethical guidelines of deception and informed consent had been breached. Dealing with ethical issues in this way simply makes the study more ethically acceptable, but does
not change the quality (in terms of validity and reliability) of the
findings.
explain ecological validity and zimbardo?
lacks ecological validity-The study suffered from demand
characteristics. For example, the participants knew that they were
participating in a study and therefore may have changed their behaviour, either to please the experimenter (a type of demand characteristic) or in response to being observed (participant reactivity, which acts as a confounding variable). The participants also knew that the study was not real so they claimed that they
simply acted according to the expectations associated with their role rather genuinely adopting it. This was seen particularly with qualitative data gathered from an interview with one guard, who said
that he based his performance from the stereotypical guard role portrayed in the film Cool Hand Luke, thus further reducing the validity of the findings
zimbardo and lacking population validity ?
– The sample only consisted of American male students and so the findings cannot be generalised to other genders and cultures. For example, collectivist cultures, such as
China or Japan, may be more conformist to their prescribed social roles because such cultures value the needs of the group over the needs of the individual. This suggests that such findings may be
culture-bound!
explain ethical issues and zimbardo ?
Lack of fully informed consent due to the deception required to
(theoretically) avoid demand characteristics and participant reactivity.
However Zimbardo himself did not know what was going to happen, so could not inform the participants, meaning that there is possible justification for a breach of ethical guidelines.
explain psychological harm and zimbardo ?
Participants were not protected from stress, anxiety, emotional distress and embarrassment e.g. one prisoner had to be released due to excess distress and uncontrollable screaming and crying. One prisoner was released on the first day due to
showing signs of psychological disturbance, with a further two being released on the next day. This study would be deemed unacceptable according to modern ethical standards.
5 were released early
experiment ended after 6 days ,despite being expected to run for two weeks after fellow postgraduate student Christina maslach convinced zimbardo the conditions of his study were inhumane
when was the BBC prison study ?
2001
who participated in the BBC prison study ?
15 british men who passes extensive psychological screening
why did the BBC prison experiment findings differ from Zimbardos?
they did not instruct our Guards on how to behave. they didn’t act as their leaders. they stood aside, even as they struggled to make the system work.
how did the BBC finiding differ?
Where people share a common identity (e.g. the Prisoners after the promotion), it leads to shared values and shared goals. It also increases mutual respect and mutual support. This allows people to work together as an effective unit. In short, a sense of shared social identity is the basis of effective organization and group power.
Conversely, where people lack a sense of common identity (e.g. the Guards throughout the study) they cannot agree on values or goals. As a result, attempted leadership fails and they cannot organize themselves. In the case of the Guards this meant that they didn’t put even the most basic structures – such as a shift system – in place. To do that, they would have to trust others while they were resting. Instead, they stayed ‘on duty’ the entire time, but more to keep an eye on their colleagues than to help them.
