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…
tears and just couldn’t take it anymore, one of which was released on the very first day of the experiment. Even the researchers got caught up in the simulation; they began to lose sight of reality. Zimbardo, who acted as the prison warden, overlooked the abusive behavior of the prison guards until one of his graduate students objected to the conditions in the prison and the morality of continuing the experiment. Therefore it prompted them to pull the plug earlier than expected. This study is important because it showed real life behavior changes a person with authority can have over another person placed in a position of a prisoner. The study showed the behavioral changes in these young men that they would not normally act in their everyday lives or in other situations. As for the prisoners, they were placed in a situation where they had no real control, therefore leading them to become passive and depressed. It also goes to show how people will willingly conform to the social roles they are expected to be, especially a strong noticeable role as a prisoner and guard.
The Stanford Prison experiment is not ethical. According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct principle D and principle B, psychologists are responsible to do no harm and maintain the welfare and well-being of the affected persons. Also, psychologists are precautious in not engaging in any bias, they are well prepared to not overlook unjust practices, this was not the case in the Stanford experiment.(p.2) Psychologist Zimbardo said it himself, the imaginary line of reality and simulation was blurred and he got caught up in the moment(Video). The prisoners were treated horribly and were dehumanized in the observation of Zimbardo. If it were not for Zimbardo’s graduate student telling him the experiment is morally wrong, who knows how far it would have continued or if someone would get physically hurt or emotionally distraught?
The Ethical Principle of Psychologists and Code of Conduct is important because it lays the ground rules for psychologists when conducting experiments.
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
volunteers.
These principles are used in real life today with police officers in our towns. Now a police officer’s motto is “to protect and to serve” (Dorobek). But more often than not, you see on the news that officers get so caught up in their authority driven behavior that they tend to abuse their power to serve and instead they behave as if they’re above the law. The thought of carrying a gun and being allowed to use it gets to their heads and they turn into authoritarian people (Peppe).
The Stanford experiment made me realize how we as people will accept our roles of the oppressed and the oppressor. We choose our characters and play the part. How these roles rapidly change our behaviors is amazing, considering how the volunteers behaved in real life, their behaviors surprised even them in the interviews after the simulation was over. It just goes to show none of us realize when the power will overtake us, and “with great power comes great responsibility” (Gleneicki).
References
American Psychological Association (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct: Including 2010 Amendments. Retrieved from American Psychological Association website.
Dorobek, Joseph S. "The Origin of the LAPD Motto." Lapdonline. Los Angeles Police Foundation, 18 Feb. 2004. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
Peppe, Matt. "The Authoritarianism Of The American Police State." » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. Alexander Cockburn, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Video, Stanford experiment class. 2015
Gleneicki, Annette. "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Business2Community. B2C Contributor, 14 July 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
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…
tears and just couldn’t take it anymore, one of which was released on the very first day of the experiment. Even the researchers got caught up in the simulation; they began to lose sight of reality. Zimbardo, who acted as the prison warden, overlooked the abusive behavior of the prison guards until one of his graduate students objected to the conditions in the prison and the morality of continuing the experiment. Therefore it prompted them to pull the plug earlier than expected. This study is important because it showed real life behavior changes a person with authority can have over another person placed in a position of a prisoner. The study showed the behavioral changes in these young men that they would not normally act in their everyday lives or in other situations. As for the prisoners, they were placed in a situation where they had no real control, therefore leading them to become passive and depressed. It also goes to show how people will willingly conform to the social roles they are expected to be, especially a strong noticeable role as a prisoner and guard.
The Stanford Prison experiment is not ethical. According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct principle D and principle B, psychologists are responsible to do no harm and maintain the welfare and well-being of the affected persons. Also, psychologists are precautious in not engaging in any bias, they are well prepared to not overlook unjust practices, this was not the case in the Stanford experiment.(p.2) Psychologist Zimbardo said it himself, the imaginary line of reality and simulation was blurred and he got caught up in the moment(Video). The prisoners were treated horribly and were dehumanized in the observation of Zimbardo. If it were not for Zimbardo’s graduate student telling him the experiment is morally wrong, who knows how far it would have continued or if someone would get physically hurt or emotionally distraught?
The Ethical Principle of Psychologists and Code of Conduct is important because it lays the ground rules for psychologists when conducting experiments.
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
volunteers.
These principles are used in real life today with police officers in our towns. Now a police officer’s motto is “to protect and to serve” (Dorobek). But more often than not, you see on the news that officers get so caught up in their authority driven behavior that they tend to abuse their power to serve and instead they behave as if they’re above the law. The thought of carrying a gun and being allowed to use it gets to their heads and they turn into authoritarian people (Peppe).
The Stanford experiment made me realize how we as people will accept our roles of the oppressed and the oppressor. We choose our characters and play the part. How these roles rapidly change our behaviors is amazing, considering how the volunteers behaved in real life, their behaviors surprised even them in the interviews after the simulation was over. It just goes to show none of us realize when the power will overtake us, and “with great power comes great responsibility” (Gleneicki).
References
American Psychological Association (2010). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct: Including 2010 Amendments. Retrieved from American Psychological Association website.
Dorobek, Joseph S. "The Origin of the LAPD Motto." Lapdonline. Los Angeles Police Foundation, 18 Feb. 2004. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
McLeod, S. A. (2008). Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
Peppe, Matt. "The Authoritarianism Of The American Police State." » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names. Alexander Cockburn, 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.
Video, Stanford experiment class. 2015
Gleneicki, Annette. "With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility." Business2Community. B2C Contributor, 14 July 2014. Web. 16 Apr. 2015.