Zimbardo - stanford prison experiment

Question 1

what were the 2 aims?

Answer 1

to test dispositional vs situational explanations of prison violence
to investigate the effect to which people conform to social role

Question 2

what was the method

Answer 2

1. 75 male uni students at Stanford uni responded to a newspaper article
2. paid $15 a day for 2 weeks to take part
3. zimbardo gave each of them a survey and picked the most stable 21 to take part
4. randomly allocated the role of prisoner or guard zimbardo played superintendent
5. basement of psychology dept turned into a mock prison
6. those who became guards were allowed to use physical violence, given a uniform, a batton, mirrored sunglasses, handcuffs and keys to all doors
7. prisoners were arrested fingerprinted, stripped deloused, dressed in smocks and chained at the ankle given a number put 3 to a cell

Question 3

what were the findings?

Answer 3

guards and prisoners settled into roles
after 36 hours 1 prisoner released due to stress
3 more left shortly after
prisoner rebellion- this was stopped - guards then got more violent

Question 4

what was the evaluation?

Answer 4

androcentric = all male
not representative - all from one uni
volunteer sample which can lead to a very similar sample
the prison was described as a living hell
the study should have been called off earlier
zimbardos presence created demand characteristics
zimbardos study brought about some prison reforms but there are still some high profile cases of prison violence

Question 5

what is a contemporary version of the study and what happened?

Answer 5

reicher and haslam

• replicated study with 15 men randomly allocated to roles (filmed for BBC) guards reluctant to punish prisoners
• in end prisoners took control of prison - experiment ended