Stanford Prison Experiment - Edited for the Classroom
Summary
TLDRThe Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971, explored the impact of social situations on individuals. Volunteers were assigned roles as guards or prisoners in a simulated jail. The guards quickly adopted authoritarian behaviors, subjecting prisoners to humiliation and abuse. The experiment, intended to last two weeks, was ended after only six days due to the severe psychological distress it caused the participants. It highlighted the power of authority and the potential for ordinary people to commit cruel acts when placed in certain roles.
Takeaways
- 🏫 The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University to study the psychological effects of perceived power on participants.
- 👥 Participants were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners, with the guards given uniforms, sunglasses, and nightsticks to establish authority.
- 🔒 The experiment aimed to understand how 'good' people react to an oppressive environment and whether they would conform to the role or resist.
- 👀 Zimbardo was inspired by Stanley Milgram's obedience to authority experiments, which showed that ordinary people could be induced to act against their conscience under orders.
- 📉 The experiment quickly spiraled out of control with guards becoming increasingly abusive and prisoners experiencing severe psychological distress.
- 🚨 The rebellion by prisoners was met with harsher treatment, including solitary confinement and physical and verbal abuse by the guards.
- 🛑 The experiment was originally planned to last two weeks but was ended after only six days due to the extreme emotional and psychological impact on participants.
- 🌐 The experiment highlighted the power of situational forces in shaping behavior, suggesting that 'good' people can be led to act 'evilly' in certain circumstances.
- 📚 The aftermath of the experiment led to significant changes in ethical guidelines for psychological research, emphasizing the need to protect participants from harm.
- 🤔 The experiment raised questions about the nature of human behavior, suggesting that individuals' actions are heavily influenced by their social roles and the environment.
- 🔄 The Stanford Prison Experiment continues to be a subject of debate and discussion in psychology, with implications for understanding group dynamics, authority, and obedience.
Q & A
What was the main purpose of the Stanford Prison Experiment?
-The main purpose was to investigate how 'good' people react when placed in an 'evil' environment, specifically to see if the situation or the individual's internal values would dictate their behavior.
Who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment?
-The experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in 1971.
What roles were the participants assigned in the experiment?
-Participants were randomly assigned to be either 'guards' or 'prisoners' within the simulated prison environment.
How did the guards in the experiment dress and what was the effect of their attire?
-The guards wore military uniforms and silver reflecting sunglasses to dehumanize them and create a sense of power and anonymity.
What was the 'hole' in the context of the experiment?
-The 'hole' was a small, dark solitary confinement area used to punish prisoners within the simulated prison.
What was the reaction of the participants when they were first confined?
-One participant described feeling degraded and screamed loudly, expressing extreme upset and a sense of being out of control.
How did the experimenter, Zimbardo, react when the prisoners rebelled?
-Zimbardo was initially stunned by the rebellion and responded by escalating the guards' authority and control over the prisoners.
What was the impact of the guards' behavior on the prisoners?
-The guards' behavior led to psychological distress among the prisoners, with some showing signs of severe emotional disturbance.
Why did Zimbardo end the experiment early?
-Zimbardo ended the experiment early due to the severe psychological effects it was having on the participants and the ethical concerns that arose.
What was the role of the 'snitch' in the experiment?
-The 'snitch' was a prisoner who was asked by Zimbardo to provide information about the other prisoners in exchange for preferential treatment.
What were the ethical implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment?
-The experiment raised significant ethical concerns about the treatment of participants, leading to changes in guidelines for psychological research involving human subjects.
What did the experiment reveal about human behavior?
-The experiment showed that people can easily adopt roles and behaviors that are contrary to their personal values when in certain situations, suggesting that the environment can have a powerful influence on behavior.
Outlines
🏫 The Stanford Prison Experiment
The paragraph discusses the infamous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The experiment aimed to explore how ordinary people react to being in positions of power or submission. Zimbardo converted the basement of Stanford University's psychology department into a simulated prison, with participants randomly assigned to be either guards or prisoners. The guards were given uniforms and sunglasses to dehumanize them, and the environment was designed to be oppressive. The experiment was inspired by previous research into obedience to authority, like Stanley Milgram's electric shock experiment, which showed that people could be induced to commit acts against their conscience under orders from perceived authority figures. The Stanford experiment was conducted amidst a backdrop of civil rights activism and anti-war protests, reflecting a societal challenge to authority.
👮♂️ The Role of Guards and Prisoners
This paragraph delves into the dynamics between the guards and prisoners in the experiment. The guards, dressed in military uniforms and sunglasses to obscure their identity, were given the power to maintain order and were instructed not to use physical violence. The prisoners, on the other hand, were subjected to harsh conditions and arbitrary punishments. The experiment quickly took a dark turn as the guards began to assert their authority aggressively, and the prisoners rebelled against their treatment. One prisoner, referred to as 8612, was put in solitary confinement as punishment for his role in a rebellion. The guards' tactics escalated, and the experiment began to mirror a real prison environment more closely than anticipated.
🚨 Rebellion and its Consequences
The third paragraph narrates the events following the prisoners' rebellion. Prisoner 8612, a leader of the rebellion, was told he could not leave the experiment, which he communicated to the other prisoners, leading to a heightened sense of hopelessness. His emotional state deteriorated rapidly, and he was eventually released, marking a significant ethical dilemma in the experiment. Zimbardo's immersion in his role as prison superintendent clouded the line between reality and the experiment, and his actions influenced the guards to be more oppressive. The guards' response to the rebellion was severe, and they began to harass the prisoners further, leading to a breakdown in the prisoners' morale and unity.
🍽️ The Hunger Strike and its Impact
Paragraph four describes the situation where a new prisoner, referred to as 416, joined the experiment and was quickly subjected to the guards' aggression. The guards' behavior became increasingly cruel, inspired by a movie character. Prisoner 416 felt a loss of identity and was driven to a hunger strike as a form of protest. The guards' reaction to the hunger strike was to punish the other prisoners, further fracturing any sense of solidarity among them. The guards gave the prisoners a choice to release 416 but at a cost, revealing the guards' manipulation and control over the prisoners.
🔍 The Visitor's Revelation
In this paragraph, a fellow psychologist visits the experiment and is horrified by the brutality she witnesses. The guards had the prisoners in chains and were marching them in a degrading manner. The visitor's emotional response led to a confrontation with Zimbardo, who was criticized for allowing the abuse to continue. This intervention prompted Zimbardo to end the experiment early, highlighting the ethical concerns and the psychological impact on both the guards and prisoners.
📜 The Legacy of the Experiment
The final paragraph reflects on the aftermath of the experiment. It discusses the ethical debates that arose from the experiment and the changes in guidelines for human subject research that followed. Zimbardo acknowledges his mistake in taking on dual roles and the suffering of the participants. A meeting with all participants after the experiment revealed the lasting effects on individuals, with some guards expressing regret for their actions. The experiment underscored the power of situations to corrupt and the difficulty for victims to stand up against abuse, raising questions about human nature and the capacity for cruelty.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Stanford Prison Experiment
💡Philip Zimbardo
💡Milgram's Experiment
💡Authority
💡Dehumanization
💡Power Corrupts
💡Ethical Guidelines
💡Role-playing
💡Oppression
💡Conformity
💡Dual Role
Highlights
The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted in 1971 at Stanford University by psychologist Philip Zimbardo.
The experiment aimed to understand the behavioral effects of perceived power and authority on 'guards' and 'prisoners'.
Participants were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners, simulating a real prison environment.
The experiment quickly escalated into a situation where guards became abusive and prisoners experienced severe psychological distress.
Guards wore military uniforms and reflective sunglasses to dehumanize prisoners and assert authority.
The experiment was designed to test whether individuals' morality could resist the corrupting influence of an oppressive environment.
The 'prisoners' rebelled on the second day, leading to harsher treatment from the 'guards'.
One prisoner, referred to as 8612, experienced a breakdown and had to be released early.
Zimbardo took on the role of the prison superintendent, which later was seen as a conflict of interest.
The experiment was ended prematurely after only six days due to the extreme psychological effects on participants.
The experiment raised ethical concerns about the treatment of participants and the power dynamics in research.
The findings suggested that 'good' people can be corrupted by the power dynamics of a situation.
The experiment's results were used to explain the behavior of individuals in oppressive regimes, such as the Holocaust.
The aftermath of the experiment led to significant changes in ethical guidelines for psychological research.
Zimbardo later reflected on the dual role he played, acknowledging it as a mistake that could have been avoided.
The experiment highlighted the importance of situational forces in shaping human behavior, challenging the notion of inherent goodness.
The Stanford Prison Experiment is considered one of the most infamous in psychology due to its ethical implications and real-world parallels.
Transcripts
I was the first one to be picked up so
they put me in a Cell
they locked me in there and this
degrading I never screamed so loud in my
life never been so upset in my life it
was an experience of being out of
control Stanford University Northern
California one of America's most
prestigious academic institutions and in
1971 the scene of one of the most
notorious experiments in the history of
psychology
I was interested in what happens if you
put good people in an evil place
does the situation outside of you the
institution could come to control your
behavior or does the things inside of
you your attitude your values your
morality allow you to to rise above a
negative environment the negative
environment Zimbardo chose to test his
ideas was a prison he would convert the
basement of the university's psychology
department into a subterranean Jail
we put prison doors on each of three
office cells in the cells
there was nothing but three beds and and
it was very actually very little room of
anything else because they were very
small and here we had solitary
confinement which we call the hole and
in the hole was was the place where
prisoners would be put for punishment it
was a very very small area when you
close the door it was totally dark
all the guards wore military uniforms
and we had them wear these silver
reflecting sunglasses and what it does
is you can't see someone's eyes and so
that loses some of their human eyes the
humanity in general we wanted to create
a sense of power that as the guards as a
category are people who have power over
others in this case power over the
prisoners a decade earlier psychologist
Stanley Milgram had also looked at how
we respond to Authority in order to
understand how people were induced to
obey unjust regimes and participate in
atrocities such as the Holocaust he set
up an experiment volunteers were told
they were taking part in scientific
research to improve memory separated by
a screen the teacher would ask the
learner questions in a word game and
administer an electric shock when the
answer was incorrect he was told to
increase the voltage with each continue
please the experiment requires you
continue teacher please continue
participants didn't know that the
learner was really an actor and the so
called shocks harmless
I mean take the responsibility of paying
the apples of that gentleman I'm
responsible for anything that happens
here continually and nicely slow walk
dance truck music two-thirds of
volunteers were prepared to administer a
potentially fatal electric shock when
encouraged to do so by what they
perceived as a legitimate authority
figure in this case a man in a white
coat Milgram's findings horrified
America they show that decent American
citizens were as capable of committing
acts against their conscience as the
Germans had been under the Nazis like
Milgram Zimbardo was interested in the
power of social situations to overwhelm
individuals his experiment would test
people's responses to an oppressive
regime where they accepted or act
against it
Zimbardo experiment was conducted
against a backdrop of civil rights
activism and protest against the Vietnam
War there was a sense of student power
student dominance and student rebellion
against against Authority in general it
was from the student body that Zimbardo
selected his participants after passing
tests to screen out anyone with a
psychological abnormality they were paid
$15 a day each was randomly assigned to
the role of God or prisoner was a prison
to me it still is a prison to me I don't
look on it as an experiment or a
simulation but just as a prison that was
run by psychologists instead of run by
the state I was 20 and that September I
was going to college and it would be
nice to have a summer job but there sure
wasn't a lot of time left and I looked
in the want ads and I found this thing
which was just going to fit it was just
two weeks when you put a uniform on
and are given a job to keep these people
in line you really become that person
what you put on that khaki uniform you
put on the glasses you put on it you
take the nightstick I was on summer
break from my first year in college and
I was looking for a job
had to choose between that and making
pizzas that sounded like a lot more fun
as well as running the experiment
Zimbardo took on the role of prison
superintendent he began by briefing the
gods I said you have to maintain law and
order if prisoners escape the study is
over and you can't use physical violence
prisoners were brought to the basement
prison blindfolded to confuse them about
their whereabouts call me I recall sort
of walking up and down the very short
hallway which was the prison hall and
looking in on the prisoners in there
basically lounging around on their beds
I felt it was like the day in summer
camp the first day I said this might be
a very long very boring experiment
because it's conceivable nothing will
happen
I arrived independently at the
conclusion that this experiment must
have been put together to prove a point
about prisons being a cruel and inhumane
place and therefore I would do my part
ya know to to help those results and
come about I was a confrontational and
arrogant
eighteen year old at the time and you
know I said somebody oughta stir things
on the second morning the prisoners had
decided to stir things up as well the
guards found some of them had used that
beds to barricade their cell Prisoner
eight six one two was one of the
ringleaders of the rebellion initially I
was stunned I didn't expect the
rebellion because not much happened and
we wasn't clear what they were what they
were rebelling against but they were
rebelling against the status rebelling
against being anonymous against having
to follow orders from from these these
other students as punishment for the
rebellion prisoner eight six one two was
put in the hole and the guards turned on
the other prisoners the guards felt that
they now have to up the ante of being
tough the prisoners made the mistake of
beginning to use profanity against the
guards in a very recently woken in the
middle of the night the guards made them
do menial physical tasks and clean out
toilets with their bare hands we made it
a point to not give them any sense of
comfort or what to expect that it you
know that anything could happen to them
at any time including being rousted from
their sleep at any hour and forced to
stand up in a line and have me hurl
insults at them and make them do
exercises when you interrupt people's
sleep they tend to become a little
disoriented and since there was no
daylight in the prison they had no idea
whether it was night or day I think that
I was the instigator of this whole
schedule of harassment the harassment of
the guards took its toll on rebellion
leader eight six one two he told
Zimbardo he wanted to leave the
experiment Zimbardo responded not as a
psychologist but as a prison
superintendent I said well I can see to
it the guards don't hassle you
personally and in return all I would
like is some information from time to
time about what the prisoners are doing
so essentially I'm saying I'd like you
to be a snitch an informant and I said
think it over and if you still want to
leave fine confused
prisoner eight six one two returned to
his cell and told the other prisoners
that no one could leave it wouldn't let
him go although we've never said that
but the fact that he was a ringleader of
the rebellion and he told the other
prisoners they won't let you leave net
really transformed the experiment into a
prison I was told that I couldn't quit
and at that point I just felt totally
hopeless more hopeless than I've ever
felt before
soon after returning to his cell
prisoner eight six one two started
showing signs of severe distress
it starts with make-believe and then
he's doing it and cursing and screaming
and you know whatever that little
boundary is that he he moved to cross
not that he became really crazy but it
became you know excessively disturbed I
mean it's so much so that we immediately
said we have to release him as an
experience it was unique I've never
screamed so loud in my life
I've never been so upset with my life
and it was an experience of being out of
control the boundary between reality and
make-believe was to become blurred even
for Zimbardo a rumor circulated that
released prisoner eight six one two
would return with friends to liberate
the remaining prisoners I quickly
convinced myself that you know my most
important function was you know not to
allow this prison liberation to occur
and what could I do to keep my prison
going not the experiment gone
the prison was dismantled and the
prisoners moved to another part of the
building Zimbardo waited in the empty
corridor preparing to tell 861 - and his
friends that the study was over when a
colleague appeared and began asking
questions about the scientific basis of
the research I'm trying to get rid of
him and then he says what's the
independent variable I get furious
because he doesn't understand that
there's riot about to take place that
this prison is about to erupt and had
totally lost this whole other identity
of scientists researchers psychologists
the room at jailbreak never materialized
the guards had dismantled the prison for
nothing and had to rebuild it they took
their frustration out on the prisoners
they escalated again the level of
control the level of dominance the level
of humiliating behavior 8 1 9 was the
next prisoner to rebel against the
harassment of the guards he barricaded
himself in his cell and refused to take
part in the [ __ ] for 8 1 9 s
disobedience the guards made his
cellmates do mindless work this
undermined any vestige of solidarity
amongst the prisoners who now chose to
accept the tyranny of the guards rather
than risk further harassment
I was one of the surprising things to me
is that there was so little that the
prisoners did to support one another
after we started our campaign of you
know divided conquer
isolated and distraught prisoner a-19
told Zimbardo he wanted to leave while
i'm interviewing 8.9 and saying okay you
know it's all over thank you for your
participation you know I'll give you
money for the whole for the whole two
weeks even though you're leaving early
he hears the prisoners shouting 8:1 not
a bad thing he said I can't leave and
he's crying he says I can't leave I mean
you can't leave he said no I have to go
back because I don't want them to think
that I'm a bad prisoner and that's
that's when I really flipped out but in
such a such a short time you know hey
college students thinking could become
so distorted I said you're not a bad
president United prisoner and this is
not a prison and it was this thing where
he opened his eyes that was just really
like a cloud being lifted seeing things
clearly prisoner 81:9 reverted to his
original request and was released to
replace him the experiment is called in
one of their reserves from the standby
list I got a phone call saying are you
still available as an alternate kind of
a cheery female secretary voice I said
yes sure and so she said could you start
this afternoon I said yes sure and my
role in the experiment really began
I was blindfolded and then stripped and
supposedly deloused he came into a
madhouse full-blown all of us had
gradually acclimated to increasing level
aggression the increasing powerlessness
of the president is increasing dominance
of the guards and he comes in and says
what's happening here at the other
prison I said yeah you better not make
trouble it's really terrible it's a real
prison and and he says yeah I'm out of
here I don't and they said none denied
you can't leave once you hear you stuck
this is a real prison prisoner for 1/6
was soon subjected to the harassment of
Davey Shulman
nicknamed John Wayne because of his
macho attitude
I made the decision that I would be as
intimidating as cold as cruel as
possible I just watched a movie called
Cool Hand Luke and the mean intimidating
you know southern prison warden
character in that film really was my
inspiration for the role that I created
for myself
it's my name to review video
you speak
he was creative in his evil he would
think of very ingenious ways to degrade
to demean one of the best guards what
was also on that shift and instead of
confronting this bad guard the sadistic
guard essentially because he didn't want
to see what was happening he became the
gofer he would go out to get the food
and things of this kind and that left
the John Wayne kick guard in another
guard and that shift to be dominant we
were continually called upon to act in a
way that just is contrary to what I
really feel inside the madness of the
experiment started to affect prisoner
for 1/6
I began to feel that I was losing my
identity until finally I wasn't clay I
was 416 I was really my number and 416
was gonna have to decide what to do
prisoner 4 1 6 decided to go on a hunger
strike
they were pushing my limits but here was
a thing that I could do that could push
their limits
after I had missed a couple of meals I
saw that this was not a matter of
indifference to the guards I was making
headway they were upset
I thought how dare this newcomer come in
and try to change everything that we had
worked for the first three days to set
up and by god he was gonna suffer for
that frustrated by his continued
defiance John Wayne through prisoner
four one six into the hole after
punishing the other prisoners for his
disobedience John Wayne encouraged them
to vent their anger at four one six
directly we would use our night sticks
to bang on the door and we would kick
the door so hard that you know it must
have you know shaken him very seriously
inside scared the life out of him he
yelled at me and threatened me and
actually sort of smashed sausage into my
face to try to get me to open up but I
didn't have any intention of eating
until I was out for one six should have
been at some level of hero because he's
willing to impose the authority of the
system in fact the prisoners except the
guards definition of him as before when
a six was still in the hole
John Wayne made a final attempt to break
him by giving his fellow prisoners a
choice they could vote to release him by
making a small sacrifice stay another
day
now what would it be what would it be
over here
how about five or six we got three
favorite easy to play we got three
against one keep your bike for one six
we got to be in there for a while but
the study shows that power corrupts and
how difficult it is for people who are
the victims of abuse to stand up and
defend themselves why doesn't anybody
who was being abused by a spouse or
something like that just say stop it and
we realize now that that's not as easy
as it sounds by the end of the fifth day
four prisoners had broken down and been
released for one six was on the second
day of his hunger strike and the
experiment still had another nine days
to run
at this point a fellow psychologist
visited Zimbardo's basement prison and
would witness the brutality of the
experiment firsthand the guards had
lined up the prison is to go to the
toilet had banks over the head chains on
their feet and we're marching by and I
looked up and I saw this this circus
this parade and I said hey Chris you
know look at that I looked up and I just
began to feel sick to my stomach I had
this just chilling sickening feeling of
watching this and I just you know I just
turned away and I just let loose in this
emotional Tyree I just lost it
I was angry scared I I was in tears and
I'm furious I'm saying you're supposed
to be and then we had a big argument to
be a psychologist this is this
interesting dynamic behavior in such a
few day but I'm going through this whole
thing the power of the situation says no
no it's it young boys are suffering and
you are responsible you let even happen
I said oh my kind of question or right
the next day Zimbardo ended the
experiment studies like his stimulated
heated debate about the ethics of using
human subjects clearly young men
suffered verbally physically prisoners
felt shame and they're all guards felt
guilt so in that sense it's it's
unethical that is nobody has the right
the power the privilege to do that to
other people in the wake of experiments
like Zimbardo's and Milgram's ethical
guidelines changed introducing greater
safeguards to protect participants in
the stanford experiment
Zimbardo might have spared his
volunteers distress had he not taken on
a dual role in the study if I was going
to be the prison superintendent I should
have had a colleague who was overseeing
the experiment who was in a position to
stop it at any point or I should have
been the principal investigating it and
get somebody who was going to be the
prison superintendent I realized that
was a big mistake to play both those
roles in the shifting back and forth
after the experiment Zimbardo brought
all the participants together to talk
about their experiences John Wayne would
now come face to face with the hunger
striker he had tormented I was a little
worried I said oh my god he's really
gonna come down on me hard now now that
we're on equal footing
it harms me how did it how does it harm
me it just officially I mean that people
can be like that yeah it let me in on
some knowledge thing that I've never
experienced firsthand because I know
what you can turn into I know what
you're willing to do when I look back on
it now I behaved appallingly yeah no I
it's just a horrid to look at I think I
tried to explain it was the time that
you know what you experienced and what
you hated so much was was a role that I
was playing that that's not me at all he
was trying to dissociate himself from
what he had done that did make me angry
everyone was acting out apart playing a
role prisoners guards staff everyone was
acting out apart it's when you start
contributing to the script that's you
and thus it's something you should take
responsibility for it was it was
degrading and that was that was part of
my particular little experiment to see
how I could your particular little
experiment oh yes I was I was running a
little experience of my own tell me
about your little experiments okay I
wanted to see just that kind of verbal
abuse that people can take before they
start objecting before they start
flashing back if I have any regret right
now it's that you know I made that
decision because it would have been
interesting to see what would have
happened had had I not decided to
divorce things it couldn't be that I
only accelerated them that the same
things would happen
but we'll never know if the extreme
nature of Davis woman's behavior tested
the prisoners it also presented the
other guards with a choice to intervene
or not they just accepted myself and no
one questioned my authority at all it
really shocked me why didn't people say
what I started again abuse people so
much I started to get so profane that
and still people didn't say anything
there were a few guards who hated to see
the prison suffer they never did
anything which would be demeaning of the
prisoners the interesting thing is none
of the good guards ever intervened in
the behavior of the guards who gradually
became more and more sadistic over time
we like to think there is this core of
human nature that good people can't do
bad things and that good people will
dominate over bad situations in fact one
way to look at the Stanford Prison study
said we put good people in an evil place
and we saw who won well the sad messages
in this case the evil place won over the
good people
it did show some very interesting and
maybe some unpleasant things about human
behavior it seems like you know every
century of a decade that we go through
you know we're suffering the same kind
of atrocities and you need to understand
why these things happen you need to
understand why people behave like this
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