Zimbardo's Study Flashcards
what did Zimbardo study
conformity to social roles
what is a social role
the parts people play as members of different social groups
which level of conformity does social roles involve and why
identification because it involves both public and private acceptance of the behaviour exhibited since it is learnt
can one person have a number of social roles
yes because people opt for different social roles for different social situations
what is zimbardo’s study commonly called
the stanford prison experiment
what was the procedure of zimbardo’s study
the guards were instructed the prisoners, the relationship between the two was observed
who were the participants in zimbardo’s study
24 american male student volunteers
what test did zimbardo put his participants through to allow them to partake in his experiment
psychologically and physically screened them, 24 most stable were used
how did zimbardo assign the role of prisoner and guard
randomly
how did zimbardo get his participants to the experiment
prisoners were unexpectedly arrested at home, blind folded and put through a delousing procedure at the ‘prison’ (given a uniform and ID number)
what right did the prisoners have and what rule did they have to follow
3 meals a day, 3 supervised toilet trips a day, 2 visits per week
what identified the guards
uniforms, clubs, whistles, reflective sunglasses
why was the prisoners being unexpectedly arrested a problem
leads to psychological trauma, consent was not given
what problems do the participants of the experiment bring
social desirability bias since they were all volunteers, gender and cultural bias since american and male
why did the guards have to wear reflective sunglasses
to help keep them anonamous, prevent eye contact and uphold their authority
what was zimbardos role in the experiment
oversaw the experiment
role of Prison Superintendent
why is zimbardo’s role in his study problematic
introduces researcher bias, he should’ve had someone else be the prison superintendent
how many days was the experiment planned to go on for
14 - 2 weeks
after how many days did the experiment have to stop
6
why did the study end
the intervention of another student who reminded the researchers it was a psychological study and that this did not justify the abuse
how many prisoners had to be released early (2 days in)
5
why did some prisoners have to be released early
their extreme reactions - crying, rage, acute anxiety
in what way was the experiment taken more seriously than expected by the participants
they internalised the role - conforming to them even when alone
give some examples of how participants internalised and got into their role
guard - some asked to do extra hours without pay
prisoner - asked for ‘parole’ rather than to withdraw
how did the guards treat the prisoners
they were tyrannical and abusive
give some examples of what the guards made the prisoners do
- woke prisoners up in the night
- forced them to clean toilets with their bare hands
- other degrading activities
how did the participants of zimbardo’s study show demand characteristics
acted how they believed the role should be acted
what ethical considerations are there for zimbardo’s study
unexpectedly arresting participants, dehumanising, inequality in authority, lack of right to withdraw, lack of fully informed consent
what conclusions were made from zimbardo’s study
- demonstrated how people conform to social roles
- individuals conform to social roles demanded of a situation even when these roles override their moral belief about behaviour
