Zimbardo key facts

Question 1

what was the aim of Zimbardos study?

Answer 1

To investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life.

Question 2

when and where did the experiment take place?

Answer 2

1971 base of standford universities psychology department

Question 3

what was the sampling?

Answer 3

volunteer sampling - newspaper advert asking for male students who would be paid £15 a day to take part

Question 4

what was zimbardos role in the experiment?

Answer 4

he placed himself in the road of chief superintendent- this clouded his role and judgement regarding ethics

Question 5

what were the investigator effects?

Answer 5

• it was in his interest to get shocking results as it led him to becoming a very successful psychologist
• he was heavily criticised for his involvement and the guards reported feeling pressured to give him the result he wanted

Question 6

what were some ethical issues?

Answer 6

• werent protected physically or mentally
• guards were at risk of psychological harm as they had to deal with the things they had done
• lack of informed consent regarding the arrest
• not filly given the right to withdraw told to “sleep on it”

Question 7

what are some specific prisoner example?

Answer 7

1) prisoner 416 went on a hunger strike which frustrated the guards
2) 816 acted crazy as a way of getting out

Question 8

what are some of the real life implications?

Answer 8

-during the iraq war american troops were pictured committing horrific acts towards the prisoners
-as the soliders had no history of violence,zimabardo argued it was the conditions of the prison itself that led to the behaviour
BAD CIDER COULD OFTEN BE CAUSED BY A BAD BARREL NOT A BAD APPLE

Question 9

what are some demand characteristics from the study ?

Answer 9

all participants new they were in a psychology study and many of them would have heard of him and maybe wanted to impress him by getting the results that he wanted