AO1 + AO3: ZIMBARDO STAMFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT

what was the independent variable?

whether Ps were prisoners or guards

what was the dependent variable?

the resulting behaviour

How did Ps enter the experiment?

arrested by real police from their own homes

what was the rule for the guards around harm?

no physical harm was permitted

how many Ps?

24 middle class men

all but one was white

how were positions allocated?

randomly allocated positions

how was data obtained?

video tape and direct observation

what happened on the 2nd day?

mass revolt

guards devised strategy separate of Zimbardo

how did the guards interact with the prisoners?

Mainly negatively and in a hostile and dehumanising way

what happened to the prisoners?

They became passive

- flattened mood

- distorted sense of self

what happened when new prisoner introduced?

new prisoner told to go on hunger strike against the conditions faced by the prisoners

he was seen as a troublemaker by his fellow prisoners and was put in solitary confinement by the guards

EXPLANATIONS FOR FINDINGS FOR ALL PS

IDENTIFICATION

DEINDIVIDUATION

identification

Ps begin to identify with their view of the role they had been assigned

Ps reported they hadn't changed their private views

high levels of conformity for prisoners and guards

Deindividuation

loss of self-awareness

reduced accountability for their actions

stripped of individuality

causes more violent and antisocial behaviour due to the anonymity

EXPLANATIONS FOR FINDINGS FOR GUARDS

POWER AND ARBITRARY CONTROL

power and arbitrary control

the guards needed no justification for their actions and all prisoners rights became a privilege

What percentage of guards are considered 'cruel and tough'?

30%

What percentage of guards are described as 'tough but fair'?

50%

What percentage of guards are classified as 'good guards'?

Less than 20%

EXPLANATIONS FOR FINDINGS FOR PRISONERS ONLY

DEPENDENCY AND EMASCULATION

PATHOLOGICAL PRISONER SYNDROME

LEARNED HELPLESSNESS

dependency and emasculation

no underwear = emasculation

lack of power

prisoners when debriefed believed they were physically smaller than the guards due to the reduction of their self confidence

prisoners were made dependent on the guards

pathological prisoner syndrome

prisoners experiencing loss of motivation and extreme sadness as a result of their inescapable situation

social deterioration

learned helplessness

prisoners ceased to initiate any action

environment becomes predictable and they stop trying to resist

AO3: ETHICS

deception - arrest at the beginning of the experiment

harm - unethical to expose them to degradation and hostility (physical and psychological harm)

conflict of roles - Zimbardo was both the 'superintendent' and the chief researcher

experiment was abandoned when he realised the harm it was causing

Zimbardo argued the benefits of the study outweighed the distress caused

AO3: VALIDITY ISSUES

artificial set up - a fake prison can't mirror a real prison - lacks the beatings, racism etc of real prisons

demand characteristics - prisoners and guards could have been 'play acting'

- Dave Eshleman (dubbed John Wayne) admitted to

basing his behaviour off of a character in a film

- Zimbardo argued this didn't matter and throughout

the study they still internalised their beliefs

unrepresentative sample - 24 male, middle class Ps

what is the evidence that Ps still treated treated the prison like a real prison?

90% of convos were about the prison

AO3: BBC STUDY

2002 BBC prison study - conclusions differed from Zimbardo's

found the prisoners dominated over the guards

questioned whether or not people actually mindlessly fall into roles

AO3: self-selecting group

answered a news paper advertisement

Thomas and McFarland - found people who answered their newspaper advert had higher levels of aggression, authoritarianism and narcissism