When put into an authoritative position over others, is it possible to claim that with this new power individual(s) would be fair and ethical or could it be said that ones true colors would show? A group of researchers, headed by Stanford University psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo, designed and executed an unusual experiment that used a mock prison setting, with college students role-playing either as prisoners or guards to test the power of the social situation to determine psychological effects and behavior (1971). The experiment simulated a real life scenario of William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies” showing a decay and failure of traditional rules and morals; distracting exactly how people should behave toward one another. This research, known more commonly now as the Stanford prison experiment, has become a classic demonstration of situational power to influence individualistic perspectives, ethics, and behavior. Later it is discovered that the results presented from the research became so extreme, instantaneous and unanticipated were the transformations of character in many of the subjects that this study, planned originally to last two-weeks, had to be discontinued by the sixth day. The results of this experiment were far more cataclysmic and startling than anyone involved could have imagined. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the discoveries from Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment and of Burrhus Frederic “B.F.” Skinner’s study regarding the importance of environment.
In August of 1971, Philip G. Zimbardo placed a simple advertisement in the local city paper requesting for: “Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life: $15 per day for one-to-two weeks. Beginning A...
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...raumatic for some, the acknowledgement that you can make a choice in your own environment, which controls who you transform to be, should provide encouragement, although illusionary that choice may be, its effects are not.
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The Stanford Prison Experiment commenced in 1973 in pursuit of Zimbardo needed to study how if a person are given a certain role, will they change their whole personality in order to fit into that specific role that they were given to. Zambrano significantly believed that personality change was due to either dispositional, things that affect personal life and make them act differently. Or situational, when surrounded by prisoners, they can have the authority to do whatever they want without having to worry about the consequences. Furthermore, it created a group of twenty-four male participants, provided them their own social role. Twelve of them being a prisoners and the other twelve prison guards, all of which were in an examination to see if they will be able to handle the stress that can be caused based upon the experiment, as well as being analysis if their personality change due to the environment or their personal problems.
The name of the experiment was the Stanford Prison Experiment, a study that was supposed to be for two weeks, lasting only six days. This study was conducted by Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist that taught at the university. Professor Zimbardo wanted to examine how volunteers would react in a simulated prison. Zimbardo and his colleagues put an advertisement in the local paper asking for participants. Then on Sunday, August 17, 1971 twenty-four applicants were placed in a mock prison, set up in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.
When put into the position of complete authority over others people will show their true colors. I think that most people would like to think that they would be fair, ethical superiors. I know I would, but learning about the Stanford Prison Experiment has made me question what would really happen if I was there. Would I be the submissive prisoner, the sadistic guard, or would I stay true to myself? As Phillip Zimbardo gave the guards their whistles and billy clubs they drastically changed without even realizing it. In order to further understand the Stanford Prison experiment I learned how the experiment was conducted, thought about the ethical quality of this experiment, and why I think it panned out how it did.
One of the most influential studies in history that violates present-day ethical guidelines would have to be, The Stanford Prison Experiment. Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University conducted an experiment to examine the behaviors and roles of college students within a mock prison setting in 1971.
Gandhi once said “Our thoughts become our words, our words become our actions, our actions become our character, our character becomes our destiny.” That very quote was proven in the 1973 Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo. Zimbardo placed an ad in the newspaper asking for young males to par take in his experiment with in return getting paid $15 a day. Out of 75 volunteers 24 were chosen as participants. Zimbardo randomly selected the males to be either the prisoners or the guards. The prison stimulation was kept as close to real life as possible, Zimbardo converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison. The Stanford Prison experiment was to test if people would fall into the roles that they were told to be. The results that followed were astounding, neither Zimbardo or his colleges expected the outcome.
Introduction Individuals often yield to conformity when they are forced to discard their individual freedom in order to benefit the larger group. Despite the fact that it is important to obey the authority, obeying the authority can sometimes be hazardous, especially when morals and autonomous thought are suppressed to an extent that the other person is harmed. Obedience usually involves doing what a rule or a person tells you to, but negative consequences can result from displaying obedience to authority; for example, the people who obeyed the orders of Adolph Hitler ended up killing innocent people during the Holocaust. In the same way, Stanley Milgram noted in his article ‘Perils of Obedience’ of how individuals obeyed authority and neglected their conscience, reflecting how this can be destructive in real life experiences. On the contrary, Diana Baumrind pointed out in her article ‘Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience’ that the experiments were not valid, hence useless.
“The Stanford Prison Experiment was a landmark psychological study of the human response to captivity, in particular, to the real world circumstances of prison life. It was conducted in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University”. The Stanley prison experiment was conducted in 1971 by psychologist Philip's Zimbardo along with some of his fellow graduate students. The experiment was supposed to be based on obedience, he wanted to expand Stanley Milgram's research, also created a similar study that was based on obedience. Zimbardo selected up to 24 undergraduate students, 12 were prisoners and 12 were guards, they were supposed to play these roles up to two weeks in exchange for $15. According to
The Stanford Prison Experiment of social psychologist, Philip G. Zimbardo was conducted at Stanford University in 1971. Twenty-four men who volunteered for the experiment were thoroughly selected (physically And mentally healthy, intelligent, and middle class members). Participants were randomly assigned either to the role of a guard or to the role of a prisoner in a simulated prison environment.
Deindividuation is the “tendency to engage in uncharacteristic behavior when stripped of unusual identities” and the failure to recognize and differentiate the self in large groups (O’Conner, 2017). It plays a vital role in the manipulation of one’s actions even if the behavior goes against one’s own moral values. Support for deindividuation can be seen when examining an experiment completed by Philip Zimbardo in 1970. Zimbardo wanted to understand the different effects that uniforms and concealing ones’ identity had on individuals’ behavior. He did so by setting up two groups of people; one group had a uniform which hid their faces and the other group wore what they showed up to the study in. A ‘learner’ was asked questions and each time
Psychological research has developed over many years of trials, criticism and changes. Today the American Psychological Association (APA) provides guidelines and rules for researchers to ensure research provides respect, beneficence, and justice for participants within the studies (txt). Based on previous research studies, ones that do not meet the current guidelines, some could be changed to meet current guidelines, while others would not be allowed as research studies in todays’ professional arena.
The effectiveness of punishment and the role of imprisonment can be seen in the Stanford Prison Experiment which demonstrates the violent and oppressive nature of prisons. In the experiment, a mock prison was set up and 21 male students at Stanford University were randomly selected to be either a guard or prisoner (Chin). The prisoners stayed in the prison 24 hours a day while the guards worked 8 hour shifts. The guards were given great latitude in how they could deal with prisoners, including “the rules they could establish and punishments they could carry out” (Chin). The realism of the experiment was seen by having the participants taken to a police station to be “charged” and “arrested”. Within the first 2 days, a prisoner rebellion
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“The Stanford Prison Experiment” It was another YouTube clip which our instructor showed us in the class. This was an experiment which designed by psychologist Dr. Zimbardo. The experiment’s aim is to study about social influence on our relations. It was about study on some participants who played prisoners and prison officers’ role. In this experiment we saw how participants’ behaviors changed after few days, which caused Dr. Zimbardo ended the experiment earlier.
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