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The Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo

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Handfuls of students at Stanford University were quick to respond to a seemingly innocuous newspaper advertisement for a job that promised to pay fifteen dollars a day, an attractive offer for broke college students. Of those who were interested, twenty-four males were selected and deemed mentally and physically healthy. Then, they were each assigned roles as prisoners or guards for a prison simulation held in the basement of Jordan Hall at their university. To most psychology students, this situation sounds quite familiar. Based on Phillip Zimbardo’s 1971 psychology experiment, the 2015 film, The Stanford Prison Experiment, provides a disturbing view into human nature and tendency. The movie breathes life into the classic experiment. Once the simulation begins, the subjects’ identities transform from college students into prisoners and guards. The experiment was forced to be ended after just six days when it was meant to last fourteen. …show more content…

The interactions between the guards and prisoners continue to escalate as time goes by, often resorting to violence and profanity. Throughout the experiment, the subjects become engrossed within their roles, accepting them completely. Similarly, the realistic portrayal by the actors is startling. Michael Angarano, who plays an authoritarian prison guard, exhibits a remarkable performance. Audience members feel a true hatred and disgust for him before the film’s end. The mere portrayal of the events of the experiment is enough to evoke strong feelings of contempt, confusion, and overall repulsion. It peaks an interest in the audience that cannot be satiated in the length of the movie. For hours afterwards, it leaves the viewer pondering what they just

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The Stanford prison experiment was led by Philip Zimbardo with the purpose of studying the psychological effects of being a prisoner and a prison guard. The participants of the research study were male college students. Once selected, a coin toss determined which males would be prisoners and prison guards. The experiment took place at Stanford University, where a mock prison was crafted. Zimbardo acted as the warden or superintendent of the mock prison.

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The Stanford Prison Experiment shows people who are put into positions that cause them to act differently from themselves. 12 people are selected for an experiment and randomly split into two groups: 3 guards and 9 prisoners, and they dress them like their roles and give them the gadgets they normally use in that role. “Within a very short time, both guards and prisoners were settling into their new roles, with the guards adopting theirs quickly and easily. Within hours of beginning the experiment, some guards began to harass prisoners. They behaved in a brutal and sadistic manner, apparently enjoying it.

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The Stanford Prison Experiment was a research study administered by Philip Zimbardo in 1971, which gathered twenty-four men to be put into a pseudo-jail to see the impacts of prison on the guards and inmates. Twelve of these volunteers were randomly selected to be inmates and the other twelve became guards. Not surprisingly, the inmates endured incredible torment and a few of them had psychological collapses due to severe emotional distress. The guards were consumed with their own power and felt little sympathy for the inmates that were under their care and stripped them, whipped them, dehumanized them. The research was expected to keep going for two weeks; however it went on for only six days due to the inmates encountering damaging levels

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The Stanford Prison Experiment: Human Nature and the Power of Social Roles Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (as well as Milgram’s obedience study) are absolutely fascinating. In fact, their studies are largely the reason why I became interested in pursing psychology as my major. I have seen numerous documentaries about the psychology of evil, as well as read many books and articles pertaining to this area. I find these types of social psychology studies enthralling because I have trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that normal people are capable of such heinous acts. Moreover, theses classic studies leave me constantly questioning whether or not I would have behaved in a similar fashion.

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Before the experiment began, all participants went through a psychological evaluation to make sure they were of sound mind (Onishi & Herbert, 2016). Once the experiment began the “prisoners” were arrested and taken to a simulated prison where they were stripped searched and demoralized. During the 6 days that the study lasted, conduct between both sides, prisoners and guards, was less than expectable. Both sides “acted as though a punishment was justified as an acceptable response to a breach of the rules” (Onishi & Herbert, 2016), rules that were vaguely explained.

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This experiment was conducted in Stanford University by Dr. Zimbardo. During this two week long session, Dr. Zimbardo had several volunteers agree to act as prisoners and as prison guards. The prisoners were told to wait in their houses while the guards were to set up the mock prison, a tactic used by Dr. Zimbardo to make them fit into their roles more. The official police apprehended the students assigned to the role of prisoner from their homes, took mug shots, fingerprinted them, and gave them dirty prison uniforms. The guards were given clean guard uniforms, sunglasses, and billy clubs borrowed from the police.

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Psychological issues began appearing almost immediately, not only for the prisoners but their designated guards. Prisoners began developing anxiety and stress, while guards became cruel, finding more and more ways to torment those they’re meant to be guarding. The experiment was cut short, lasting only six days instead of the scheduled 14, due to how much stress the prisoners were under. In a surprising note, while the prisoners were excited to be released, the guards did not want the experiment to conclude, having enjoyed their positions of power and wanting them to continue the full scheduled length of the

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The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study that took place at Stanford University in 1971. It studied the psychological effects of going to prison or becoming a prison guard. Researchers set out to find college students to participate and soon had many willing to take part. To begin, the students were separate into two groups, prisoners and prison guards. Philip Zimbardo, lead researcher and “prison superintendent” told the guards to take the experiment seriously and take on a real prison guard persona.

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Joshua Arredondo Professor Bdaha Psych 001 18 April 2017 Zimbardo’s investigation: Stanford Prison Experiment Critiquing whether the experiments that Zimbardo imposed on the people that were involved was robust or not, it detailed much more information that was suddenly discovered to become a detriment to what his work was implying in doing. Zimbardo’s studies were measured in 1973, where his idea of American prisoners and guards had personalities that were damned to explain why the brutality levels started to increase in the jail institutions. Becoming inevitable with yourself is leading something to believe it’s true and the guards and prisoners were discovering it was certain and how it can conflict with them not respecting how the law

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Methods and Violations of the Stanford Prison Experiment Oliva Jarvis University of Phoenix Oliva Jarvis University of Phoenix Psych/599: Foundations of Graduate Study in Psychology Judith Sugg Monday July 10th, 2023 Methods and violations of the Stanford prison experiment The Stanford prison experiment showed, in an intriguing way, how quickly people may be swayed by their surroundings when assigned particular tasks. The experiment's most significant effects were on psychology research methodologies and how to safeguard participants in studies involving both human and animal subjects as well as the researchers themselves in the event of violations of the American Psychological Association ethical guidelines. Stanford Experiment In 1971 Dr. Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment with the focus to understand human behavior in a particular setting, in this case prison, Mcray (2015). The study’s goal was to figure out how the behavior was affected by the role-playing, labeling, and social expectations over the course of two weeks, (Zimbardo, 2004).

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In the six days that the experiment ran they saw the personalities that the prisoner and prison guards took.

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Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo questioned, “What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph?” (Zimbardo, 1971) In 1971 a psychologist named Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment on the effects prison has on young males with the help of his colleague Stanley Milgram. They wanted to find out if the reports of brutality from guards was due to the way guards treated prisoners or the prison environment.

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The guards would force the prisoners to criticize one another, which tore down prisoner 416 in the end of the experiment and ultimately lead to ending the experiment. Overall, I think that this experiment had good expectations and goals, but needed a better plan. The men being involved needed to know more about what they were signing up for because many men didn’t know they would be arrested from their houses and treated just as if they were prisoners. This experiment opened a lot of people’s eyes because it put into reality how prisoners are treated in real life.

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In 1971 Dr. Zimbardo a psychologist professor at Stanford University conducted an experiment with 24 college student and recruited them to play the roles of guards and prisoners in a mock prison system. This experience was to gain insight of daily prison life between the guards and the prisoner when one has power, which we be the guards. In on the other hand the prisoner who will be the powerless this was the reason to create a prison environment that would fabricated simulation of a real life prisoners and guards daily activities. Professor Zimbardo fabricated a simulation of a jail by converting the basement of Stanford University to a prison. The 24 male causation college students from various colleges in the United States were evaluation for any abnormalities before the experiment they all were normal and capable to do the experience.

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As stated in the name of the actual experiment, it was a simulation of how it was like to be imprisoned. The participants were 24 college students. The

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