Psychology
Final Paper: Stanford Prison Experiment
Abstract The Stanford prison experiment was a study of psychological effects and what the effects could do to a prisoner and prison guard. The experiment was taken placed at Stanford University from August fourteenth to the twentieth in 1971, which was led by a professor named Philip Zimbardo. US Navy and Marine Corps was very interested in the experiment and wanted to know the cause and effects it could have on a military guard and prisoner. So the US Office of Naval Research funded money toward the experiment. Out of seventy-five male students only twenty-four were selected for the experiment. The twenty-four males were randomly assigned roles to either become a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was set to happen in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Professor Zimbardo, had high expectations for the experiment and the participants adapted to their roles well beyond what Zimbardo thought. The guards became powerful and knew that they had power over the prisoners. They took the role as a guard so far as to torture the prisoners. Many of the prisoners accepted the abuse and for others who didn’t accepted the abuse, they were harassed. The experiment became out of control but that did not affect Zimbardo (who was the superintendent in the experiment), and actually let the abuse and harassment to continue. The experiment was supposed to last for two week but after two of the prisoners quit early the entire experiment was stopped. After only day six the two prisoners could not handle another minute longer. During the experiment certain parts were filmed and are still available to look at even today. The goal of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that the prisoners and guards personality traits were the main causes of abusive behaviors in prison. In the beginning of the experiment, professor Zimbardo picked certain men who happened to be healthy
Abstract The Stanford prison experiment was a study of psychological effects and what the effects could do to a prisoner and prison guard. The experiment was taken placed at Stanford University from August fourteenth to the twentieth in 1971, which was led by a professor named Philip Zimbardo. US Navy and Marine Corps was very interested in the experiment and wanted to know the cause and effects it could have on a military guard and prisoner. So the US Office of Naval Research funded money toward the experiment. Out of seventy-five male students only twenty-four were selected for the experiment. The twenty-four males were randomly assigned roles to either become a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was set to happen in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Professor Zimbardo, had high expectations for the experiment and the participants adapted to their roles well beyond what Zimbardo thought. The guards became powerful and knew that they had power over the prisoners. They took the role as a guard so far as to torture the prisoners. Many of the prisoners accepted the abuse and for others who didn’t accepted the abuse, they were harassed. The experiment became out of control but that did not affect Zimbardo (who was the superintendent in the experiment), and actually let the abuse and harassment to continue. The experiment was supposed to last for two week but after two of the prisoners quit early the entire experiment was stopped. After only day six the two prisoners could not handle another minute longer. During the experiment certain parts were filmed and are still available to look at even today. The goal of the experiment was to test the hypothesis that the prisoners and guards personality traits were the main causes of abusive behaviors in prison. In the beginning of the experiment, professor Zimbardo picked certain men who happened to be healthy