Stanford Experiment By Philip Zimbardo
David Irias
Psychology 101
Stanford experiment
4-13-2015
The research experiment was conducted in 1971 by Phillip Zimbardo and some of his colleagues. They would build a mock prison with fake guards, fake prisoners, even a fake warden; all of this being conducted in a fake jail house where Phillip and his colleagues would observe everything from afar. The participants were chosen from a group of volunteers that had no criminal background, had no psychological issues, and had no extreme medical conditions. The experiment was to be conducted for 14 days. Their objective was to see how the guards would react in a position of power. Likewise with the prisoners, they would observe how they would react in a simulated environment where they were completely powerless against the guards.
While the experiment was initially said to be done for 14 days, it only lasted 6 days. The fake guards became too abusive and the prisoners were under extreme stress and unease. The guards and prisoners were allowed to talk in the simulation but most interactions between them were very hostile.. The guards became abusive and aggressive towards the prisoners, gradually causing the prisoners to become more passive and depressed. Some prisoners had to be released because they would break down into …show more content…
It protects the volunteers’ rights and dignity from being abused. For example, if Zimbardo would have had these principles in front of him before the experiment it might have either bee conducted differently or ended very early. Psychologists might be restricted in their methods of experimenting if these principles were not to be followed. The time frame of an experiment would have to be cut short, not a lot of freedom to do what you will. Ultimately it would make a psychologists’ job more difficult but at the expense of protecting the
Psychology 101
Stanford experiment
4-13-2015
The research experiment was conducted in 1971 by Phillip Zimbardo and some of his colleagues. They would build a mock prison with fake guards, fake prisoners, even a fake warden; all of this being conducted in a fake jail house where Phillip and his colleagues would observe everything from afar. The participants were chosen from a group of volunteers that had no criminal background, had no psychological issues, and had no extreme medical conditions. The experiment was to be conducted for 14 days. Their objective was to see how the guards would react in a position of power. Likewise with the prisoners, they would observe how they would react in a simulated environment where they were completely powerless against the guards.
While the experiment was initially said to be done for 14 days, it only lasted 6 days. The fake guards became too abusive and the prisoners were under extreme stress and unease. The guards and prisoners were allowed to talk in the simulation but most interactions between them were very hostile.. The guards became abusive and aggressive towards the prisoners, gradually causing the prisoners to become more passive and depressed. Some prisoners had to be released because they would break down into …show more content…
It protects the volunteers’ rights and dignity from being abused. For example, if Zimbardo would have had these principles in front of him before the experiment it might have either bee conducted differently or ended very early. Psychologists might be restricted in their methods of experimenting if these principles were not to be followed. The time frame of an experiment would have to be cut short, not a lot of freedom to do what you will. Ultimately it would make a psychologists’ job more difficult but at the expense of protecting the