Zimbardo Prison Experiment Flashcards
What are Social Roles?
The parts people play as members of various social groups
What type of conformity is conforming to social roles?
Identification
What were the aims of Zimbardo’s Study?
[2]
- Wanted to see how readily people would conform to role-playing exercise of prisoner and guard
- Wanted to see whether behaviour was due to internal dispositional factors or external situational factors
What are internal dispositional factors?
The people themselves
What are external situational factors?
The environment
Where was Zimbardo’s Study taken place?
Stanford Uni Basement which was converted into prison
How many people took part in participant? Who were they?
21 male students
What happened to prisoners?
[5]
They were:
- Blindfolded
- Strip-searched
- Deloused
- Given prisoner uniforms
- Given numbers
What happened to Guards?
[4]
They were:
- Given khaki uniform
- Whistles
- Handcuffs
- Dark sunglasses - to avoid eye contact
What was Zimbardo’s role in the study?
He was:
- Superintendent
- Prison Warden
What was the Procedure of Zimbardo’s Study?
[6]
- Zimbardo converted basement of Stanford Uni into mock prison
- 21 male students to be randomly assigned as prisoners and guards
- Prisoners were given numbers, uniforms, strip-searched, deloused
- Guards were given khaki uniforms, dark sunglasses
- No violence
- Zimbardo was superintendent and lead reasearcher
What were the findings of Zimbardo’s study?
[4]
- Guards and prisoners quickly settled into new roles, once there was a rebellion from prisoners
- Guards began to harass prisoners. Brutal and sadistic manner.
- Prisoners took on prisoner-like behaviour. Told tales, Tried to please guards.
- Threat to prisoner psychological and physical health, so they had to stop after 6 days not 14
What were the Conclusions of Zimbardo’s research?
[2]
- People readily conform to social roles, even when roles are against moral principles
- Situational factors were largely responsible, no behaviour demonstrated like this before
Abu Ghraib - torture
What is a Strength of Zimbardo’s Study?
[4]
- Real world applications of Zimbardo’s study
- Same confomrity to social roles happened in Abu Ghraib, a military prison
- Iraqi prisoners were tortured by American Soldiers in 2000s.
- Certian situational factors can lead to tyrannical people, so studying about this = can avoid later on in future
Zimbardo was superintendent and lead researcher
What is a Limitation of Zimbardo’s Study?
[3]
- Major ethical issue - Zimbardo was superintendent and lead researcher
- He responded to prisoner who complained of psychological/physical harm as superintendent
- Prisoner had to stay longer than wanted
