Philip Zimbardo and His Contributions to Psychology
Philip Zimbardo and His Contributions to Psychology
Fall 2013
In today’s fast paced society many of us have a tough time dealing and coping with our problems. This is when psychologists come into play. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It deals with the mind and how we process mental and emotional things. Philip Zimbardo’s thoughts on psychology are, “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” And this is exactly what he tested in his Stanford Prison experiment.
Philip Zimbardo was born on March 23 in 1933 in New York City. Being raised in the South Bronx, he was the first person to attend college in his family. After enrolling in Brooklyn College, that’s where he earned his bachelors degree in 1954. (Fails) He then received his Masters from Yale University in 1955 and his Ph.D in 1958, which are both in psychology. For a short time he taught at Yale in 1958, and then went to New York University and Columbia University. He has been a professor at Stanford University since 1968. (Williams, 1998)
His research has covered so many ideas and areas of psychology. It has involved role playing, laboratory experiments, field studies, simulations and studies that demonstrate psychology phenomena. (Fails) All of his research has been mainly about how good people could turn evil, intelligent people end up doing dumb things, normal people do unexpected things and how the power of certain social situations can really change people’s personalities whether they are a man or a woman. Zimbardo has won more than twenty-four awards throughout his life. He has also served on twenty boards and consultations, is the author of more than twenty psychology textbooks, has written over one hundred
Fall 2013
In today’s fast paced society many of us have a tough time dealing and coping with our problems. This is when psychologists come into play. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It deals with the mind and how we process mental and emotional things. Philip Zimbardo’s thoughts on psychology are, “I have been primarily interested in how and why ordinary people do unusual things, things that seem alien to their natures. Why do good people sometimes act evil? Why do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things?” And this is exactly what he tested in his Stanford Prison experiment.
Philip Zimbardo was born on March 23 in 1933 in New York City. Being raised in the South Bronx, he was the first person to attend college in his family. After enrolling in Brooklyn College, that’s where he earned his bachelors degree in 1954. (Fails) He then received his Masters from Yale University in 1955 and his Ph.D in 1958, which are both in psychology. For a short time he taught at Yale in 1958, and then went to New York University and Columbia University. He has been a professor at Stanford University since 1968. (Williams, 1998)
His research has covered so many ideas and areas of psychology. It has involved role playing, laboratory experiments, field studies, simulations and studies that demonstrate psychology phenomena. (Fails) All of his research has been mainly about how good people could turn evil, intelligent people end up doing dumb things, normal people do unexpected things and how the power of certain social situations can really change people’s personalities whether they are a man or a woman. Zimbardo has won more than twenty-four awards throughout his life. He has also served on twenty boards and consultations, is the author of more than twenty psychology textbooks, has written over one hundred