Zimbaro -stanford prison experiment

Question 1

what was Zimbardo’s aim?

Answer 1

to investigate conformity to social roles

Question 2

what was his procedure?

Answer 2

-recruited male college students with the promise of being paid $15 a day
-chose 25 of the most psychologically healthy student
-randomly allocated to prisoner or guard
-guards chose uniform
-given symbols of power (batons)
-prisoners were given smocks, numbers and de-loused
three rules:
-maintain law and order
-prevent escape
-no violence

Question 3

what were the findings of the experiment?

Answer 3

• ended after 5 days rather than the planned 2 weeks
• gradual increases in institutional aggression
• 5 prisoners had to be released following psychological breakdowns.
• both prisoners and guards adopted roles
• deindividuated

Question 4

what were Zimbardo’s conclusions?

Answer 4

situations can dictate a persons behaviour i.e conform to social roles

• morality suspended
• surprising levels of aggression

Question 5

what are some strengths of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 5

• controlled variables e.g psychologically healthy, random roles
• real life application e.g Iraqi prison evidence
• highlights the power of situations and roles

Question 6

what are some weaknesses of Zimbardo’s study?

Answer 6

ethics:

• psychological harm
• deception
• lack of informed consent
• Zimbardo was overinvolved (influence)
• $15 was a binding contract so encouraged demand characteristics
• Reicher and Haslan study

however it still met the ethical criteria