Topic #4: Zimbardo

Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)

What year did Zimbardo conduct his Stanford Prison Experiment?

1971

What did Phillip Zimbardo want to study in his Stanford Prison Experiment?

situational forces vs dispositions in human behavior

What inspired Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment?

he wanted to find out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards (dispositions) or had more to do with the prison environment (situations)

How did Zimbardo replicate a prison environment?

he converted the basement of Stanford’s psychology building by barring windows and doors, making the walls bare, and creating small cells

What did Zimbardo say the study was about when advertising for participants?

the psychological effects of prison life

How many men applied for Zimbardo’s study?

75

What did each of the 75 applicants do?

complete a diagnostic interview and a personality test

How were the 24 participants selected from the 75 applicants?

they were judged to be the most physically and mentally stable, the most mature, and the least involved in social behaviors

How much were participants paid?

$15 a day

How was random assignment used in the study?

to allocate the roles of prisoners and guards

How did the study begin for the prisoners?

They arrested at their homes and taken to the police station, where they were fingerprinted, photographed, and ‘booked,’ then brought the ‘prison,’ where they were stripped naked, deloused, stripped of all personal belongings, and given prison clothes and bedding

What were prisoners only referred to as?

their prison number

What did all guards wear?

identical uniforms of khaki, a whistle around their neck, and special sunglasses to block eye contact

How did the guards take shifts?

3 guards were working at one time, taking shifts of 8 hours, while the other guards were on call

What were guarded instructed to do?

whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners

What role did Zimbardo play?

he was both the experimenter and prison warden

What was wrong with Zimbardo playing 2 roles at once?

he got too absorbed by his role as prison warden that he lost ethical boundaries that he must adhere to as a researcher

What did Zimbardo find?

that within a very short time, both guards and prisoners settled into their new roles, with the guards adopting theirs quickly and easily

How did guards treat prisoners?

they taunted them with insults and petty orders, gave them pointless tasks, and they generally dehumanized them

How did prisoners rebel?

by barricading themselves in the cells with the beds on the second day

How did the guards punish the prisoners for their rebellion?

by dousing them with fire extinguishers, stripping them naked, and taking the beds out

What happened to the ringleaders of the rebellion?

they were put in solitary confinement

What was the ‘privilege cell’?

a cell in which some prisoners were allowed back their uniforms and beds, and allowed to wash their hair and brush their teeth

How did the prisoners and guards change after the rebellion?

the prisoners became more dependent and submissive, and the guards became more derisive

Why was Prisoner #8612 let out on the second day?

he began experiencing acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, and rage

What happened on the third day?

the guards washed the prisoners, had them clean and polish their cells, and gave them a big dinner before holding a visiting hour for their parents

How did guards react to the rumors of a mass escape plan?

they escalated the level or harassment

Why did Zimbardo bring in a Catholic priest?

to assess the situation’s realism

What happened when the priest talked to the prisoners?

half of them introduced themselves by their number instead of their name, and Prisoner #819 broke down hysterically crying

How long was the experiment supposed to last?

2 weeks

What happened on the fifth day?

Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend and now-wife, Christina Maslach, who was a recent Stanford Ph.D., was brought into conduct interviews with the participants, and she heavily criticized Zimbardo and questioned his morality

Why did the experiment end on the sixth day?

due to the emotional breakdowns of prisoners and excessive aggression of the guards

What did Zimbardo conclude?

people will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play, especially if the roles are strongly stereotyped

Why did demand characteristics affect the findings?

the participants likely felt pressured to fulfill their roles, especially because they were being paid

What 2 processes did Zimbardo propose explained the experiment’s results?

deindividuation and learned helplessness

How does deindividuation explain the experiment’s results?

the guards likely became immersed in sadism being a group norm to the point where they loss their sense of personal identity, especially because they wore the same uniform

How does learned helplessness explain the experiment’s results?

the prisoners learned that their actions had little effect on what happened, so they gave up trying to fight back against the guards’ cruelty

How might Zimbardo’s conclusion be wrong?

the experiment might have played out the way it did because certain individuals are drawn to and selected not situations that fit their personality, and group composition can shape behavior through mutual reinforcement

Why does the study have low ecological validity?

it cannot be reasonably generalized to real life (i.e. prison settings)

How did Zimbardo unintentionally influence the guards?

by encouraging them to be oppressive and approving of abusive behaviors

Why does the study lack population validity?

the sample only contains U.S. males attending Stanford University, so findings cannot be applied to females or to those in other countries, especially collectivist cultures; additionally there is a lack of diversity due to all participants being wealthy and well-educated white males

Why did participants feel as though they couldn’t leave?

guards induced feelings of boredom, frustration, and powerlessness