The document summarizes Philip Zimbardo's infamous Stanford prison experiment from 1971. In the experiment, volunteer students were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards in a mock prison setup in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. The experiment was intended to last two weeks but had to be stopped after only six days because things had spiraled out of control. Both the prisoners and guards had begun to take on their roles too seriously, with guards exhibiting increasingly authoritarian and abusive behavior and prisoners showing signs of extreme stress and emotional breakdown. While the experiment yielded important insights into group dynamics and conformity, it violated ethical standards in subjecting participants to psychological harm without their full consent.

1. Stephon Martin
ZIMBARDO ANALYSIS

2. Instructions
The Background
An innocently planned study to examine the relationship of actions and
attitudes spiraled in to an out of control violation of participant rights that
was stopped six days. What went wrong?
The Task
Go to http://www.prisonexp.org/ and progress through the slide show on
Philip Zimbardo's Prison Experiment. Make note of the rapid transformation
of participant behavior, paying close attention to the way the situation
affected the subjects' behaviors. Since we have used a variety of tools
throughout the semester, using any form you choose (i.e.
Glogster, Prezi, Bubbl.us, and so forth), please address the following:

3. 1. How did the police procedures used during
arrests lead people to feel
confused, fearful, and dehumanized?
 They are surprised about actually being arrested and
ordered by “police” to comply to the rules. They were
actually handcuffed, mirandized, and fingerprinted. Also
they felt dehumanized because they were
handcuffed, stripped of their clothes and wore dress-like
uniforms. They were put in jail cells and they felt like they
were animals at the zoo. It is as if they had all of their
rights taken away.

4. 2. In the debriefing, many of the guards exemplified
cognitive dissonance. In fact, one said he was running his
own little experiment and that is why he was so mean.
Explain cognitive dissonance and why the guards would be
demonstrating this. If you were a guard, what type of guard
would you have become? How sure are you?
 Cognitive dissonance is when we act to reduce discomfort
(dissonance) we feel that two of our thoughts (cognitions) are
inconsistent. The guards may feel discomforted by how they are
treating the prisoners so to reduce this discomfort, they will have to
change their attitudes. For example, one guard may be wrestling
with the fact that he hit a prisoner for disobeying and he normally
isn’t aggressive toward the prisoners. So to reduce his guilt, he may
become a tougher guard to match his actions.
 I feel that I would have been a kinder guard. I am somewhat sure
because I may change my mind because of the rebellion rumor but I
would try to do my best to treat the prisoners fairly and make sure
that the other guards are not abusing the prisoners.

5. 3. What prevented "good guards" from objecting or
countermanding the orders from tough or bad guards?
In comparison to Milgram’s study, why do we conform
easily to perceived authority figures?
 The “good guards” did not object because they did not want
to be rejected and they wanted to be accepted by the other
guards. This is called conformity, which is when we adjust our
behavior to fit in a group or to match a group standard.
 In Milgram’s study, he saw that we conform easily when the
authority figure is close at hand, when the victim is at a
distance or in another room, and the fact that there is no one
else seen disobeying the authority figure.

6. 4. If you were a prisoner, would you have been able
to endure the experience? What would you have done
differently than those subjects did? If you were
imprisoned in a "real" prison for five years or more,
could you take it?
 If I were a prisoner, I honestly don’t think that I would be able to
endure the experiment. Being in a small cell with two other men and
taking orders from guards would probably make me go crazy. Also
using the bathroom in front of others and having them directing me
to the bathroom with a blindfold on would be
humiliating, degrading, and embarrassing to me.
 What I would have differently from the other prisoners would be to
pray everyday, obey every order like the prisoner nicknamed
“Sarge”, and not spread any rumors.
 Also, I don’t think I would be able to endure a “real” prison without
my faith . If I didn’t have it, I know I would not make it.

7. 5. Given what we have discussed on ethics, was it ethical
to do this study? Was it right to trade the suffering
experienced by participants for the knowledge gained by the
research? (The experimenters did not take this issue
lightly, although the Slide Show may sound somewhat matter-
of-fact about the events and experiences that occurred).
 I don’t believe that this experiment was ethical because it was done in a
proper place. It was done in a small space and it didn’t amount to a real
prison in that the prisoners were blindfolded when they were walked to use
the bathroom.
 It was not fair to the participants in the experiment because they were not
treated fairly. They were given orders, sometimes had to use the
bathroom, in front of others, and the guards made up their own rules as
they went along with the experiment.
 And the researchers actually “got into” the experiment
themselves, especially when they believed that there was going to be a
rebellion. Zimbardo himself waited in the hallway for the prisoner they
released to come and break the other prisoners free. The researchers did not
record any research that day due to the impending “rebellion”. Everyone
actually believed their roles: prisoner, guard, warden, etc.

8. 6. If you were the experimenter in charge, would you have
done this study? Would you have terminated it earlier? Is
there any other scenario that could have been set up that
won’t have turned out the way this study did?
 If I were the experimenter in charge, I would have not done this study. I
would have terminated the experiment earlier when the guards started to
become too aggressive towards the prisoners, when the prisoners started
becoming depressed and withdrawn, and when I, myself started to believe
that the experiment was real.
 They could have done a study on how bosses and workers interact. This
could probably turn out better because the workers can go home, whereas
the prisoners could not.
 If they had constantly reminded themselves everyday that it is an
experiment, then maybe it would not have turned out so bad. They could
remind themselves by doing a daily interview on everyone a the end of each
day, (including themselves), and then evaluate the research.

9. Thanks for watching!