The Human Behavior Experiments

Summary

This script delves into the complexities of human behavior, exploring the obedience to authority through the lens of Stanley Milgram's experiments and the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo. It examines how ordinary people can be compelled to act against their moral compass under certain conditions, drawing parallels to real-world events like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The narrative challenges viewers to consider their own potential actions in extreme situations, suggesting that heroes are the exception, not the rule.

Takeaways

• 🧠 The power of situational influences: The script discusses how ordinary people can act inhumanely when placed in certain conditions, as demonstrated in the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments.
• 👨‍🏫 Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment: In 1962, Milgram conducted experiments to understand how ordinary people could inflict pain on others when ordered to do so, revealing the shocking obedience to authority.
• 👥 Bystander effect: The script mentions the Genovese murder and how the diffusion of responsibility among bystanders can lead to inaction, even in life-threatening situations.
• 🔒 Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment: This study showed how 'normal' people can quickly adopt the roles of abusive guards or humiliated prisoners when placed in a simulated prison environment.
• 👮‍♂️ Authority and dehumanization: Both experiments highlight the dehumanizing effects of authority and the potential for cruelty when individuals see themselves as mere cogs in a system.
• 🚨 Real-world implications: The script connects the findings of these experiments to real-world events, such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, showing the enduring relevance of the studies.
• 🤷‍♂️ The reluctance to intervene: The experiments and real-life cases illustrate the psychological barriers that prevent individuals from stepping in to stop wrongdoing, even when they have the means to do so.
• 💔 The psychological impact of compliance: Participants in these experiments and real-life scenarios often experience guilt and regret for their actions, highlighting the personal cost of compliance.
• 🔗 The thin line between good and evil: The script suggests that the line separating moral behavior from immoral acts is thinner than we think and can be easily crossed under certain conditions.
• 👥 Group dynamics and conformity: The power of groupthink and conformity is emphasized, showing how individuals may act against their own values when influenced by a group or authority figure.
• 🚨 The responsibility of leadership: The script implies that those in positions of power bear significant responsibility for the actions of those under their command, especially when unethical behavior is encouraged or tolerated.

Q & A

What was the main purpose of Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment?

Stanley Milgram conducted his obedience experiment to understand how ordinary people could commit inhumane acts, such as those perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust, under the influence of authority.

What was the shocking revelation from Milgram's experiment?

The shocking revelation from Milgram's experiment was that a significant percentage of participants (around 65%) were willing to administer what they believed to be potentially lethal electric shocks to another person simply because they were told to do so by an authority figure.

What role did the 'learner' play in Milgram's experiment?

The 'learner' in Milgram's experiment was actually a confederate, part of the experiment, pretending to receive electric shocks. Their role was to react to the shocks, creating a realistic scenario for the 'teacher' participants.

How did the fast-food restaurant strip search hoaxes relate to Milgram's findings on obedience to authority?

The fast-food restaurant strip search hoaxes demonstrated Milgram's findings in a real-world scenario, where managers obeyed phone commands from an anonymous caller pretending to be a police officer, showing that ordinary people can be manipulated into committing unethical acts under the guise of authority.

What was the tragic incident involving Matthew Carrington that highlighted the bystander effect?

Matthew Carrington was a 21-year-old who died during a fraternity hazing event. Despite his deteriorating condition, his fraternity brothers did not intervene or call for help, illustrating the bystander effect where individuals are less likely to help when others are present.

What psychological phenomenon did Darley and Latané explore in their experiment on the bystander effect?

Darley and Latané explored the diffusion of responsibility in their experiment. They found that when more people are present, the sense of individual responsibility to help is reduced, leading to less action being taken.

What was the Stanford Prison Experiment and what did it aim to demonstrate?

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Philip Zimbardo to demonstrate how people respond to a cruel environment without clear rules. It aimed to show the power of the situation in transforming ordinary people into either abusive guards or submissive prisoners.

How did the guards in Zimbardo's experiment escalate their behavior towards the prisoners?

The guards in Zimbardo's experiment escalated their behavior by increasing the level of humiliation and physical discomfort for the prisoners. This included using more degrading and arbitrary punishments as the experiment progressed.

What was the turning point in Zimbardo's experiment that led to its premature end?

The turning point in Zimbardo's experiment was when Christina Maslach, Zimbardo's girlfriend, visited the mock prison and was horrified by the treatment of the prisoners. Her emotional reaction and criticism of Zimbardo's involvement led him to realize the experiment had to be stopped.

How did the findings from the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments relate to the events at Abu Ghraib?

The findings from the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments related to the events at Abu Ghraib by showing how ordinary people can be led to commit acts of abuse and humiliation under certain situational pressures and the influence of authority, as seen with the prison guards at Abu Ghraib.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 The Power of Authority and Obedience

The first paragraph delves into the concept of obedience to authority, referencing Stanley Milgram's groundbreaking experiment from 1962. Milgram aimed to understand how ordinary people could commit cruel acts under the guise of authority, using an electronic shock generator to test subjects' willingness to inflict pain on others. The experiment revealed that a significant number of people would obey orders to administer potentially lethal shocks. The paragraph also touches on the bystander effect and the influence of social situations on behavior, highlighting the thin line between good and evil in human nature.

05:00

📞 The Consequence of Delegating Responsibility

This paragraph discusses a modern-day application of Milgram's obedience theories, focusing on a con man who tricked fast food restaurant managers into strip-searching and abusing their employees over the phone. The narrative details a specific incident at a McDonald's in Kentucky, where an assistant manager was manipulated into believing the caller was a police officer. The paragraph explores the victims' obedience to the caller's authority and the psychological impact of shedding personal responsibility onto another perceived authority figure.

10:02

🚨 The Tragedy of Inaction Among Bystanders

The third paragraph examines the phenomenon of bystander inaction, using the tragic death of Matthew Carrington as a case study. It recounts the events leading to his death, where fraternity brothers failed to intervene or call for help during a hazing incident. The paragraph also references the 1964 Genovese murder, where 38 witnesses did nothing to help. It introduces the concept of 'diffusion of responsibility,' where the presence of others inhibits individual response to emergencies, and it challenges the audience to consider their own potential reactions in such situations.

15:03

🛑 The Failure to Intervene in a Crisis

Continuing the theme of bystander inaction, this paragraph provides a deeper look into the Matthew Carrington case, exploring the fraternity brothers' inaction despite clear signs of distress. It discusses the escalation of a seemingly harmless prank into a fatal incident and the social and psychological factors that contributed to the lack of intervention. The narrative emphasizes the power of situations to influence behavior and the tragic consequences of inaction.

20:06

🏭 The Stanford Prison Experiment and the Abuse of Power

The fifth paragraph introduces the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo, which created a mock prison to study the psychological effects of perceived power. It describes the rapid transformation of ordinary individuals into abusive guards and submissive prisoners, highlighting the dehumanizing treatment and the escalation of abuse. The paragraph draws parallels between the experiment's findings and real-world scenarios, such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, suggesting that certain environments can elicit cruelty from good people.

25:08

🔄 The Transformation and Dehumanization in the Mock Prison

This paragraph continues the discussion of Zimbardo's experiment, focusing on the guards' increasing cruelty and the prisoners' psychological breakdowns. It details the guards' use of power to humiliate and dehumanize the prisoners, leading to a series of emotional breakdowns. The narrative underscores the experiment's revelation of the potential for situational forces to corrupt even well-intentioned individuals.

30:09

🔍 The Stanford Prison Experiment's Premature End

The seventh paragraph describes the premature termination of the Stanford Prison Experiment after only six days due to the extreme and unexpected behaviors exhibited by the participants. It recounts the pivotal moment when Zimbardo's girlfriend, Christina Maslach, recognized the inhumanity of the situation, prompting Zimbardo to acknowledge the experiment's ethical implications and its transformation of ordinary individuals into agents of cruelty.

35:10

🔗 The Parallels Between Experiments and Real-World Abuses

The final paragraph draws connections between the psychological experiments and real-world instances of abuse, specifically referencing the Abu Ghraib scandal. It discusses the role of institutional environments and the dehumanizing treatment of prisoners, attributing the abuses not to a few 'bad apples' but to systemic failures and the influence of authority. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the responsibility of those in power and the potential for ordinary people to commit extraordinary acts of abuse when placed in certain situations.

40:11

🎬 Hollywood's Portrayal of Criminal Behavior and Justice

The last paragraph shifts focus to the portrayal of criminal behavior and justice in Hollywood, hinting at a television program that explores the complexities of crime and punishment. It suggests a contrast between the scientific exploration of human behavior in psychological experiments and the dramatized depiction of justice in the entertainment industry.

Keywords

💡Obedience

Obedience refers to the act of following orders, instructions, or requests from an authority figure. In the video's theme, it is explored through the lens of Stanley Milgram's experiments, which sought to understand how far individuals would go in inflicting harm on others when commanded to do so by an authority. The video illustrates this with the 'shock generator' scenario, demonstrating the profound impact of obedience on human behavior.

💡Authority

Authority is the power or right to give orders, make decisions, or enforce obedience. The video discusses the influence of perceived authority, as seen in the strip search hoaxes and the Stanford Prison Experiment, where individuals complied with or perpetrated actions due to the perceived legitimacy of the authority figure, regardless of the morality of the actions.

💡Conformity

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms or societal expectations. The video touches on this concept in the context of the bystander effect, where individuals are less likely to take action if others around them are not responding, as seen in the Matthew Carrington tragedy and the Kitty Genovese murder.

💡Bystander Effect

The Bystander Effect is a social psychological phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. It is exemplified in the video through the inaction of witnesses during violent crimes, suggesting that the responsibility to help is diffused among the group.

💡Dehumanization

Dehumanization is the act of depriving a person or group of their human qualities, reducing them to objects or less than human. In the video, this concept is evident in the treatment of prisoners in the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Abu Ghraib scandal, where individuals were stripped of their identities and subjected to inhumane treatment.

💡Situational Influence

Situational Influence refers to the impact that the environment or specific circumstances can have on an individual's behavior. The video discusses how ordinary people can commit atrocities when placed in certain situations, such as the guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment or soldiers at Abu Ghraib, highlighting the power of the situation over inherent character.

💡Hazing

Hazing is the practice of subjecting individuals to humiliating or dangerous activities, often as a form of initiation. The video references this in the context of Matthew Carrington's death during fraternity hazing, illustrating the potential for harm when group norms override individual judgment and safety.

💡Social Psychology

Social Psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, behaviors, and feelings are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. The video delves into various social psychology experiments that explore obedience, conformity, and the impact of authority and situational factors on human behavior.

💡Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study conducted by Philip Zimbardo to investigate how readily people could adopt the roles of guards and prisoners. The video references this experiment to illustrate the rapid transformation of ordinary individuals into authoritarian figures and the abuse of power that can occur in such roles.

💡Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraib refers to the prison in Iraq where human rights abuses and torture occurred, which came to light in 2004. The video connects the events at Abu Ghraib to the findings of the Stanford Prison Experiment, suggesting that the situational factors and dehumanizing environment led to the mistreatment of prisoners.

💡Responsibility

Responsibility refers to the state or fact of having a duty to deal with something or someone. The video discusses the diffusion of responsibility in the context of the bystander effect and the attribution of responsibility to higher authorities in situations like Abu Ghraib, where individuals may feel absolved of personal accountability.

Highlights

Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment revealed how ordinary people could inflict harm under authority.

Milgram's experiment aimed to understand the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II.

Subjects in Milgram's study showed varying levels of obedience to an authority figure, with some going to extreme voltage levels.

A con man's successful strip search hoaxes on restaurant employees demonstrated obedience to perceived authority in modern society.

The bystander effect was explored in the aftermath of the Kitty Genovese murder, where witnesses failed to act.

Darley and Latané's experiment on the bystander effect showed that diffusion of responsibility decreases the likelihood of helping.

The tragic death of Matthew Carrington during fraternity hazing highlighted the failure of individuals to intervene in dangerous situations.

Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment exposed the rapid transformation of ordinary people into abusive guards or submissive prisoners.

The Stanford Prison Experiment showed how environmental factors and roles can change behavior significantly.

Christina Maslach's intervention led to the early termination of the Stanford Prison Experiment due to ethical concerns.

The Abu Ghraib prison scandal paralleled Zimbardo's findings, with soldiers committing abuses under orders.

The role of institutional environments in eliciting harmful behavior was underscored by the Abu Ghraib events.

The responsibility of higher authorities in creating environments that lead to abuse was highlighted by the Abu Ghraib scandal.

The psychological impact of dehumanizing treatment on both perpetrators and victims was evident in the prison studies and real-world abuses.

The power of situational influences to corrupt ordinary individuals was a key takeaway from the psychological experiments.

The rarity of individuals who resist situational pressures was emphasized, challenging the common belief in personal heroism.

Transcripts

why would a woman Obey phone commands

from a stranger to strip search an

innocent

employee she pretty much got this victim

trapped in the office totally naked but

unless you're put in that situation how

do you know what you would do you don't

guilty guilty sir guil guilty why would

four young men watch their friend die

when they could have intervened to save

him Matt stop breathing this guy is in

real trouble you call 911 I had it typed

into my phone all I had to do was press

the green button I hit the red button

and canel it out when good people do

nothing evil

prevails how could Soldiers with good

service records suddenly descend into

barbaric Behavior sometimes you cross a

line and it's a thin line at any time

that can be crossed by anybody if placed

in certain conditions this is

unbelievable the answer to these

questions can be found in the human

behavior

experiments off the door hey I don't

want anybody your clothes

and in 1962 Stanley mgram shocked the

world with his study on

obedience to test his theories he

invented an electronic box that would

become a window into human

cruelty in ascending order a row of

buttons marked the amount of voltage one

person would inflict upon

another milgram's original motive for

the experiment was to understand the

unthinkable how the German people could

permit the extermination of the Jews

when I learn of incidents such as the

massacre of millions of men women and

children perpetrated by the Nazis in

World War II how is it possible I ask

myself that ordinary people were

courteous and decent in everyday life

can act callously inhumanely without any

limitations of conscience these are

questions that concern

me it is May

1962 an experiment is being conducted in

the elegant interaction Lab at

University psychologists have developed

several theories to explain how people

learn one theory is that people learn

things correctly whenever they get

punished when inspired mgrm I would say

there were a number of factors one of

them is he was very ambitious he wanted

to make a mark in social

psychology and he wanted as he wrote to

one friend he wanted to come up with the

most with the boldest experiment that he

could think of teacher would you take

the test and be seated in front of the

shock generator please in the Next Room

mgm's experiment was rigged the so

called learner was part of the

experiment the real subject was the

teacher shock of 75 Vols now as teacher

you were seated in front of this

impressive looking instrument a shock

generator its essential feature is a

line of switches that goes from 15 volts

to 450 volts and a set of verbal

designations that goes from slight shock

to moderate shock strong shock very

strong shock intense shock extreme

intensity shock and finally EX x x

danger severe shock now the question is

how far will you proceed on the

generator before you turn to the

experimenter and refuse to go any

further incorrect you'll now get a shock

of 105

Vols hard

head just how far can you go on this

thing as far as it necessary what do you

mean as far as is necessary to complete

the test mg was very much aware that

obedience is a necessary ingredient for

society to function but he focused on

the darker side of obedience incorrect

150

Vols sad face that's all get me out of

here I told you I had hard trouble my

heart's starting to bother me now it's

absolutely essential that you continue

as I said the experiment requires that

you continue teacher I'm not going to go

any further how this man makes

Disobedience seem a very rational and

simple deed now other subjects respond

quite differently to the experiment's

authority 165 volts

time clearly you know when we say people

went to the top of the shock board it

wasn't like they were going blly

sadistically people went stop and go

stop and go I can't stand the pain me

out of can't stand I'm not going to kill

that man there in conord the mgrm one of

the things that's a prerequisite for

carrying out acts that are evil is to

shed responsibility from your should ERS

and and hand it over to person in charge

I mean who's going to take the

responsibility if anything happens to

that gentlemen I'm responsible for

anything that happens here

continue all right next one slow he

didn't hold any gun to anybody's head

just the fact that he conveyed a sense

of authority roughly 60 65% of the

people went all the way to the top of

the shock board 450

volts that's it now continue using the

last switch on the board please the 450

switch for each wrong answer pleas I'm

not getting no answer don't the man's

health mean anything whether the learner

likes it or not we must but he might be

dead in there although mgr's experiment

took place over 40 years ago his

findings on obedience to Authority are

still relevant to us

today a series of strange events

recently confirmed mgr's theories about

obedience targeting fast food

restaurants across the country a con man

telephoned restaurant managers and

convinced them to strip search and

sometimes sexually abuse their

employees the mystery is not in the con

man but in the victims why would they

obey this person was so convincing

people saw him as a legitimate Authority

I think we have a um probably the

closest thing that we have to mgrm

experiment today in the uh in these

strip

searches the most famous of these

incidents took place at a McDonald's in

Mount Washington Kentucky there was a

videotape security camera had

filmed we didn't hear what the

instructions were but do to do the

actions that were had taken place what

the victim was doing in in the video and

stuff it was pretty evident what each

instruction

was an anonymous caller pretending to be

a police officer told the assistant

manager that an employee had stolen some

money

he said I'm officer

Scott and he said I'm with the police

department I'm

investigating uh

complaint it went directly from a theft

into a drug thing so I was asked to

search her

clothing you know he would tell me take

her shoes click them take her shirt

shake it

out I know how it seem to people but you

weren't on the phone with

him the man has convinced 70 to 100

other places the very same thing he's

very good at what he does very

good a series of strip search hoaxes

played out in fast food restaurants

across the country confirmed the

findings of the milgrim experiment on

obedience to Authority

he sounded like a police officer and um

I'm thinking okay you know I'm doing

what I'm supposed to

do he was getting some kind of

Satisfaction by being an authorative

figure and telling people what to do and

then realizing by the phone conversation

that they were actually doing what he

said he's telling me that I needed to

get someone to sit with or while he goes

and gets somebody to come in to pick her

up the caller then asked the manager if

she was married or had a boyfriend she

said that she had a fiance then the

caller asked she could have her fiance

come to the restaurant and assist her

with the the strip search for the victim

he says well why don't you have him come

up and sit there I mean you can trust

him so um called Wes my fiance we were

going to get married and ask him if he

would come

up the manager goes about doing her

duties of of running the restaurant and

uh leaves the fiance there in the office

and then then the caller starts giving

instructions over the phone of of things

that he wants U the victim to do and uh

what he wants the fiance to tell her to

do have her remove her apron and U

instructed to do jumping jacks and

jogging place and and uh several more

things she was still in high

school um the kind of person she was she

was actually graduating a top 10 in her

class and she was scared of being in

trouble with the police so she sort of

just went along and uh did whatever uh

the fiance told her to do because uh she

didn't want to be in trouble for

anything during all this time I'm

working I'm running the floor I'm

getting changed and then when I would

walk into the office to get the change

or whatever I had to get Wes would be

sitting where he was when I left and she

was was sitting where she was and no one

said

anything after over 2 and 1/2 hours

summers's fiance Walter Nicks did

something that was

Unthinkable complying with the

instructions of the caller he ordered

the employee to perform a sexual

act a lot of people you know look at you

and go well you're you know you're a n

you should be strung up I've had it even

said to me

you know you look back on it you say I

wouldn't have done it but unless you're

put in that situation at that time how

do you know what you would do you don't

you

don't what are the pressures that compel

us to obey orders even when we know that

they are

wrong what pressures would keep a friend

from calling for help even when it was a

matter of life and

death in 2005 four fraternity Brothers

watched and did nothing to help as their

close friend 21-year-old Matthew

Carrington died in front of

them I live with consequences of baby

for the rest of my life my actually

killed a good person nothing I can say

here today will bring back Matthew

Carrington or lessen the grief that his

family feels his death was

preventable and I will live with the

guilt for the rest of my

life why did these four boys do nothing

every time I think about it the feelings

rush back and the idea of what if just

stands there in the corner just not not

leaving it's always

there I had no doubt that if I would

have known I know now that I could have

stopped

it this story is not unique but it

raises a question is there something in

human nature that can keep us from

helping in 1964 38 New Yorkers watched

through their Windows as one of their

neighbors was brutally murdered her name

was Kitty geneves a 28-year-old

woman the genovisi incident where a

young woman coming home late at night

from her work was assaulted by somebody

was one of those random crazy

people Kitty was running up the block

and Winston mosy ran after her until she

reached the mid point of the block

almost directly under this street

light Mosley caught up with her and

stabbed her four times in the

back her screams were loud unmistakable

and reverberated throughout the entire

area lights went on in in the windows

around the courtyard so we know that

people were seeing this nobody called

the

police somebody who lived on the seventh

floor opened his window and yelled out

what's going on down there when Mosley

heard somebody yelling out he ran back

to his car Kitty was still alive she

managed to get up she saggers around the

corner here still screaming people in

that building Hur her as well and she

collapses inside the this

hallway after stabbing Kitty another

eight times in this very hallway the

killer ran away leaving Kitty to bleed

to

death eventually a neighbor called the

police but it was too late Kitty died

before the ambulance could get her to

the

hospital that shocked the city now it's

not that a person got murdered to chock

the city that happens sadly it's that a

person got murdered

and her neighbors watched and nobody did

anything B latney and I we read about

the murder as did everybody else here we

were two young social psychologists

starting our research careers we knew

about Stanley mgm's set of experiments

on obedience to Authority and we started

to think about in an off-hand way what

could have produced the genoves effect

perhaps Kitty genevi might have been

alive today if fewer people had seen her

there were perhaps 38 people who could

have responded but each were looking to

see what these other people were doing

first of all I would like to thank the

two of you for being here today to help

out in the study to test their Theory

darly and Latin conducted an experiment

this woman believes she is hearing

someone on the other end of the phone

having a seizure I should really use

some some help hello

somebody or help her if you knew there

was nobody else but you to help you got

up you open the door of your room and

you headed off to find the person on the

other hand if there

were three or four other people present

who you heard I would like to thank the

three of you for being here today to

help us with the study we are interested

in Lear you are much less likely to

respond yourself somebody

give me a little little help here having

a Real Pro problem right now help me out

the responsibility any individual feels

for helping is diffused when there are

other people who could also

help so what can we say back to the

bystanders in the genev situation the

first thing we can say I think is they

got a bum w

they were reacting the way that you or

me might react in those

situations there have been many

incidents like the genc incident since

then and there have been many incidents

in which people who could help don't

help a make sure Memorial of flowers and

candles is placed outside the Kow

fraternity house for Matthew Carrington

please say the 21-year-old Chico State

student was in the basement of this

house taking part in a fraternity event

at 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when his

body gave

out that didn't have to die that

night could have all been so

different could have all been from the

very beginning when they were all down

there when there was a room full of guys

guys it went wrong before they all

left Matthew Carrington joined a

fraternity and was undergoing hazing

during the spring semester of his junior

year pledge class

2004 Cal s Louis

abiso and these are our little uh pled

Bros right here he wanted to to join

because he he would get to meet people

he's kind of shy you know networking and

such when you're older I mean you got

Brothers in houses in every College all

over the country

so they did some pretty uh silly things

more embarrassing than causing anybody

any harm like wearing a mini skirt out

in the intersection or switching your

T-shirt with a homeless guy and putting

his shirt

on but it wasn't nothing that was going

to get anybody

hurt oh isn't that

sweet how did these seemingly harmless

pranks escalate to the point point where

Matthew died basically it was the third

night of what the fraternity called

inspiration week with the pledges called

hell

week the pledges Mike and Matt were

brought into the basement and the first

thing they did was to undergo some

grueling physical calisthetics

the young men were then given a 5 gallon

water jug which in itself weighed about

42 LB and we told to stand up on a

narrow bench stand on one foot and to

drink as much as they possibly could

Matthew at some point became nauseated

vomited became increasingly confused the

kidneys can only handle so much water

and indeed you can poison yourself when

you're drinking water and you're acting

drunk okay something's not right you

know when you're slurring your words

when you're you know you can't

manipulate things like you normally

something's

wrong Gabriel musty and JP Fus came in

at some point and they were both

intoxicated musty was excessively

intoxicated and they basically took

over actually tell you the truth I don't

remember most of it um unfortunately I

was pretty intoxicated when it happened

I remember making him do push-ups I

don't remember why Matt was at a point

where he couldn't do any more

push-ups he just all of a sudden dropped

and his it just seemed like his whole

body just tined

up you've got well at this point four

boys down

there it just makes me sick that they

didn't think they didn't think

something's wrong so why can't someone

say

stop what could happen is if one person

says this guy is in real trouble you

call 911 you you do this you do that

everybody will by that definition will

start to react uh will be helpful the

thing is balanced on a knife edge but

sometimes it

falls and nothing

happens his hips moved a little bit and

he just seized up and Mike said uh oh my

God I think he bit his tongue and then

he said somebody needs to call an

ambulance morning I remember thinking no

sleeping the snoring was certainly not

sleeping it would have been a result of

water

intoxication uh in a pulmonary edema

which is basically the lungs filling

with

fluid approximately an hour after he had

been left to sleep it off he was not

breathing they do nothing for an hour

while they have him lay there then they

realize he's not breathing then all of a

sudden it's like call 911 well God at

this point they do but at this point

now it's too late Matthew was pronounced

dead uh approximately 27 minutes after

arrival in the uh emergency

department when we got there they took

me and Debbie in the back and we were

still hoping that when they pulled that

sheet over his head it was going to be

another kid not yours just as bad as

that sounds there was just a chance it

wasn't our son

and as soon as they pulled the sheet up

and you seen his hair do you know it was

him and she's screaming no not mad not

mad the four ring leaders in the

fraternity hazing and torture death of

21-year-old Chico State student Matthew

Carrington accepted responsibility all

four some through tears pleading guilty

guilty guilty sir

guilty

guilty I believe that there's all

different kinds of people and that a

certain kind of people take charge in

situations unfortunately for Matt none

of us were the type of person who took

charge and told people what to do we

were uh we just found ourselves looking

at each other waiting for someone to

step up and nobody

did what it's hard for us to realize is

the power that situations have over us

to cause us to act in certain ways it

was not the case that they had been

horrible moral

failures it's the case that they're like

the rest of us caught up situations

influenced by the situations

reacting in 1971 in the basement of the

psychology department of Stanford

University a mock prison was created it

rivaled all social psychology

experiments in

controversy shortly after I finished

this Stanford Prison study mgram

embraced me and said I'm so happy that

you did this he said he said said

because now you can take off some of the

heat that that he's had to Bear alone of

having done the most unethical

study although this experiment is over

30 years old its enduring power has been

underscored by the events at Abu

gra when we got to Abu grave it was

Eerie people were being told to rough up

Iraqis that wouldn't

cooperate I mean they're torturing

they're abusing detainees

you're looking at this the situation

thinking they've condoned this but

why and if it wouldn't have been for

those

photos no one would have ever believed

what was going on over

there when I first saw the pictures and

immediately a sense of familiarity

struck me because I knew that I had been

there before I'd been in this type of

situation I knew what was going on in my

mind

the photographs were strikingly familiar

to the photographs that we had taken

many of the photographs I had taken in

the prison

study we didn't do any of the stuff as

you see in Abu gribe where they you know

get into a big pile or something like

that but I certainly subjected them to

all kinds of humiliations I don't know

where I would have stopped myself given

enough time we could have got

there when the images of the abuse and

torture at abug Gro were revealed

immediately the military went on the

defensive saying it's a few bad

apples when we see somebody doing bad

things we assume they're bad people to

begin with but what we know in our study

is there are a set of social

psychological variables that can make

ordinary people do things they never

could imagine

doing at Abu gra Ordinary People

perpetrated extraordinary abuses to

understand why it helps to reach back to

the lessons of zimbardo's experiment how

people respond to a cruel environment

without clear

rules I think he and everybody else who

came down into that situation got caught

up into that situation and the sense

that this was an experiment that began

to fade away it became just life

experiment we frankly did anticipate

what was going to happen we tried to

really test the power of the environment

to change and transform otherwise normal

people much as mgrm had changed or

transformed otherwise normal people in

an obedient situation we wanted to do it

in a prison-like

situation over 70 men volunteered for

zimbardo's

experiment and they completed a battery

of psychological tests we picked two

dozen 24 who were the most normal and

most healthy half are going to be guards

are going to be prisoners it's like

flipping a coin and heads this one's a

guard this one's a prisoner so at the

beginning there's no difference in the

kinds of people who are in your two

groups when we were given our jobs as

guards we were issued a uniform which

was a plane sort of khaki uh or lighter

colored

uniform and then we gave them the

symbols of power a handcuffs a whistle a

big billy club and then the other thing

we gave them were silver reflecting

sunglasses

when you have mirror sunglasses on then

nobody can see your eyeballs I think

that anytime you put on what essentially

is a mask and you mask your identity

then it allows you to behave in ways

that you would not behave if you didn't

have the mask

on to make it more realistic I had

arranged with this Palo Alta Police

Department to make mock

arrests when I was arrested it was a

surprise to me I didn't think I was

going to be brought to an actual police

station I didn't think I was going to go

through a booking process the guards

then put a blindfold on them stripped

them

naked and then they put them in dresses

smoks with no

underpants each had a number that

replaced their name they had to know the

number they could only be referred to by

that number and they had a chain on one

foot which was put there to remind them

at all times of their loss of Freedom so

all of these things produces a sense of

being dehumanized

see if we backwards on the first day I

said this is not going to work I mean

the guards felt awkward giving orders

and they'd say Okay line up repeat your

numbers and the prison start giggling

hey I don't want anybody laugh 3 2 1 and

then a very interesting thing happened

Dave echelman who the prison's named

John Wayne like he's a wild west Cowboy

he begins to be more

extreme I decided that I would become

the worst

most uh intimidating uh cruel prison

guard that I could possibly be see the

future that you were work at

told say it again thank you say bless

you CH I was sort of fascinated myself

that people were believing the act and I

was trying to see how far I could take

it before somebody would say okay that's

enough stop we did have to do things

like push-ups uh would have to sing

things at the beginning we protested

some of the actions we did things to

irritate the guards if I got to be in

here I'm put up so the guard's Authority

was challenged right off the bat and the

guards had to decide how they were going

to handle that and they had to decid it

without our input I mean again this was

not a mgrm study in which we were

standing over them telling them what to

do and they began to see the prisoners

Behavior as kind of an affront to their

Authority and they began to push back we

would ramp up the general harassment

just sort of crank it up a bit nobody

was telling me I shouldn't be doing this

the professor is the authority here you

know he's the prison Warden he's not

stopping me this is

unbelievable they took our clothes and

off the

door there was the first evening a kind

of rebellion that took

place the prisoners rebelled they

barricaded themselves in their cells and

said we refused to come out they took

off their numbers they didn't want to be

deep individuated they started cursing

the guards to their face and the key the

key turning point was the guards began

to think of them as dangerous

prisoners and so the guards formulated a

plan used fire

extinguishers took the doors down

dragged the prisoners out stripped them

naked and essentially broke the

rebellion in a purely physical way B

your clothes and Prison from that point

on the study was as remarkable as series

of events as I've ever

seen this is unbelievable on the second

day of zimbardo's Stanford Prison

Experiment the guards quashed The

Prisoner

Rebellion they punished them by putting

them in solitary confinement which was a

small closet you could squat or stand

but you know you couldn't sit and it was

dark and and uh dank actually you go

anywhere

every hour every day there's a teeny

little bit more of an

increment and they're stepping up

taunting the prisoners they're stepping

up the Count's not letting them sleep

they're stepping I don't think from one

minute to the next the people who are in

it see the change and see the

difference and then the next key thing

happened beside the Rebellion prison

8612 he was the first one to have an

emotional breakdown I feel really inside

you know no I got to go I to a doctor

anything I mean Jesus Christ I'm burning

up inside don't you know I don't know

how to explain it all up

inside

no at the time if you had questioned me

about the effect I was having I would

say well you know they must be they must

be a wimp they're weak or they're faking

because I wouldn't have believed that

what I was doing could actually cause

somebody to have a nervous breakdown it

was just us sort of getting our jollies

with it you know let's let's be like

puppeteers here let's make these people

do things what if I told you to get down

in

that what would you do there the guards

now began to escalate their use of power

some of them had prisons clean out

toilet bowls with their bare hands they

now taunt humiliate degrade the

prisoners in front of each other and

they exert arbitrary control over the

prisoners they keep thinking of more and

more unusual things to do and very soon

after the fourth day things begin to

turn sexual you be the Bride of Franken

and you be Franken I want you to walk

over here like Frankenstein and say that

you love man if you want to fully sort

of humiliate somebody then you want to

get them in in those things that their

where their biggest fears are and a lot

of us have a lot of sexual Hang-Ups and

so that was part of that effort to

humiliate them even further get up I

love

you I love

you you get down here do 10 pushup every

day after that another prisoner broke

down in a similar way extreme stress

reaction that we released another one on

one on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday nobody

who was in that study could deny that

the prisoner breakdowns were genuine

they were they were scary to see they

were upsetting to us we they were

unexpected but they were they were very

clearly the real thing something was

happening that we were no longer in

control of

on the fifth day of the study zimbardo

invited his girlfriend recent psychology

graduate Christina maslac to visit the

mock

prison I had heard bits and pieces uh

from Phil uh about what was going on and

then when I was down there that evening

it really was kind of a wow the thing

that really got to me was when some of

the guards took the prisoners down the

hall to the men's

room she looks out and sees a line of

the prisoners with paper bags over their

heads each one holding the other one's

shoulder and they're leading him down

the hall and Phil comes over and I look

look you know my God look at that and I

looked up and something about it just

you know again it was the dehumanizing

demeaning kind of treatment I just I

couldn't watch it and she said it's

terrible what you're doing to those boys

and she got tears in her eyes I said

what and she runs out and and I'm

furious I'm saying you know I'm saying

look this is you know run outside we

have this big argument I'm saying look

this is this is the Dynamics of human

behavior it's fascinating power of the

situation all so I'm giving her all the

psychological basis and what kind of

psychologist are you you don't

appreciate this um and she said I don't

understand you're a stranger to me I

don't understand this how could you not

see what I see I mean you know you're a

caring compassionate person I know you

from all these other things something's

gone wrong here and then the next thing

she said which had an equally big impact

is uh you know I'm not sure I want to

you know have anything to do with you if

this is the real you and that was like a

slap in the face because what she was

saying is you've changed you know the

power of the situation has transformed

you from from the person I thought I

knew to this person that I don't know

and at that moment I said wow you're

right we got to end it after only 6 days

Dr zimbardo shut down his experiment

what makes this study interesting and

what makes the mgrm study interesting

it's really about the transformation of

human character

zimbardo decided to cut short his

experiment due to the growing hostility

of many of the

guards people can be seduced into doing

things they never thought they could

there are interesting parallels that are

coming up now with Abu

grab at Abu gra standard operating

procedures were changed normally

military guards are supposed to protect

prisoners suddenly they were asked to

soften them up for

interrogators we were never trained to

be prison

guards the higher ups had used your

imagination break them we want them

broke by the time we get

back as soon as we'd have prisoners come

in sandbags instantly over their head

and they would flexi cuff them throw

them down to the ground some would be

stripped it was told to all of us

they're nothing but dogs so you start

breeding that picture to people then all

of a sudden you start looking at these

people as less than human when you start

doing things to him you would never

dream of and that's where it got

scary tier 1A was where um a lot of the

stuff started happening and that's what

tier specialist grer was in charge of

one evening after he got off of his

shift he was horse I said grer are you

getting sick and he goes no and I said

well what's going on and um he says well

I'm having to yell and and do things to

detainees that I feel are morally and

ethically wrong what do you think I

should do I said then then don't do them

and he goes I don't have a choice and I

said what do you mean he says well every

time a bomb goes off outside the wire or

outside the fence they come in and they

tell me that's another American losing

their life and unless you help us their

blood's on your hands as well

so early on in October what I saw

whenever I walked up to the tier was two

soldiers that I had no idea who they

were they had two naked detainees

handcuffed to to prison cells they were

telling to confess confess confess um he

would SWAT him on the behind with a

water bottle so then after they did that

they handcuffed him together and what

appeared to be um sexual

position i' I've never been trained in a

interrogation but I definitely didn't

think that this is the way interrogation

should be and so I reported it to my

lieutenant basically you know telling

them Military Intelligence is doing some

pretty weird things with naked detainees

and he seemed not to

care whenever there's a system there are

perpetrators of evil it's the people who

do bad things like an Abu Gro the guards

but the top Administration gives

permission either implicitly or

explicitly they didn't they put them in

a pyramid but they gave them General

permission to do whatever they had to do

to get

confessions they may well uh be given

missions in connection with this overall

task strategy we also have to work

though sort of the the dark side if you

will we're going to spend time in the

shadows I can't think of a worst thing

for somebody who is in charge of an

environment like that or in charge of

people who work in an environment like

that to say say it's time to take the

gloves off and go to the dark side those

kinds of institutional environments

create pressures on people to head to

the dark side anyway I mean we learned

this in the prison study those

environments elicit the worst from Good

People my guess is that

99.999% of our Armed Forces behave

admirably at all times but it's like the

rest of society there will be a few bad

apples that will conduct themselves in

ways that we're not proud

of were there a few bad apples no what

was bad was the

barrel who made the barrel this whole

chain of command I feel terrible about

what happened to these Iraqi deanes they

were in US

custody our country had an obligation to

treat them right to treat them as human

beings we didn't do that uh that was

wrong prior to to the Abu gra Scandal

Donald Rumsfeld had personally approved

a menu of interrogation techniques

including dogs stress positions and

nudity that violated long-standing

military

rules when you follow an order you got

to be held accountable as well but the

ones that hold the key to that door the

ones that ask you to walk through that

door hold a higher accountability

because they know

better I know the situation very closely

now because I was an expert witness for

one of those guards chip Frederick

exemplary Soldier nine medals model

father a husband uh patrio you know

normal healthy no sadistic Tendencies

nothing that would indicate he was

anything other

than ordinary good guy and he gets into

this place and he is totally

corrupted sometimes you cross a line and

it's a thin line at any time that can be

crossed by any body if placed in certain

i

s I think it's a hard conclusion from

all of the research evidence to sort of

say there's nothing inherent in who you

are that would necessarily say I'm safe

I will never cross the line that

research was done 30 something years ago

this is not news you know the the

lessons that were learned it's been in

textbooks it's been taught in Psychology

courses other research mgrm all of these

other studies are pointing to those same

conclusions it is the rare person who's

able to be in that situation and resist

it's the

majority who conform who comply who who

obey Authority who who do these things

and that's what nobody wants to hear we

want to all think we're heroes if we

were in that situation we'd be different

maybe that's

true but heroes are rare in any society

they they are the exception the rule is

the majority the rule is the base rate

is what the average person would do and

so so the big message from the Stanford

Prison Experiment big message from the

MGM obedience study from many of these

other studies is that if you imagine

yourself in those St being participant

in studies you have to say it's likely I

would do what the majority did and I'm

not that special I'm an ordinary person

they were Ordinary People

next there's trouble in Tinsel toown

we're talking about a very very sick boy

an up close look at the stars who are so

good at being bad te just went crazy

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