Zimbardo

Question 1

What is dispositional explanation?

Answer 1

Prison violence due to prisoners and guards personalities make conflict inevitable.

Question 2

What is a situational explanation?

Answer 2

Prisoners and guards act this way because of the situation.

Question 3

Experiment used to choose situational or dispositional:

Answer 3

See how others behave in the situation.

• non aggressive: dispositional
• aggressive: situational

Question 4

How many in experiment?

Answer 4

10 prisoners.

11 guards.

Question 5

Where was experiment ?

Answer 5

Mock prison set up in basement of Stanford uni (USA)

Question 6

Findings:

Answer 6

Guards grew tyrannical.
Forget they were acting.
Study ended after 6 days not 2 weeks.

Question 7

Conclusion about guards?

Answer 7

Dispositional.

Gave themselves nasty roles.

Question 8

Conclusions about prisoners?

Answer 8

Situational.

Reacting to situation put in by guards.

Question 9

Valid?

Answer 9

Tell little about human behaviour- situational.

Guards claim they played roles- lying?

Question 10

Reliable?

Answer 10

Not very.
Never any replication.
Questions about using humans- ethics.

Question 11

Ethical issues?

Answer 11

Psychological harm.
(Emotional distress)
-people left due to distress.