Dr. Philip Zimbardo was an American psychologist who largely contributed to social psychology with his well-known study: the Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo studied sociology, anthropology, and psychology throughout college and landed a job as a psychology professor. He then began studying cult behavior and mind control, which led to starting of the Stanford Prison experiment. The controversial study led to debates of ethical standards and negative psychological impacts on participants of the examination. His experiments are still seen useful today as attorneys and other psychologist find purpose in his works.
Dr. Philip Zimbardo was born March 23, 1933, in New York City. He went to Brooklyn College and graduated in 1954 with three …show more content…
The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, along with Craig Haney, Curt Banks, and Carlo Prescott (Annenburg Learner, 2001). The purpose of the experiment was to see what would happen if one group had authority over another group and how good people would act under bad situations (Good Therapy, 2015). Students volunteered to be a part of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Before the experiment started they tested each student to make sure they were healthy - psychologically and physically (Annenberg Learner, 2001). They randomly selected 24 applicants out of 70 that were tested. The start of the study was on August 17, 1971. It took place in a fake prison in the basement of Jordan Hall (Ratnesar, 2011). The experiment was planned to last two weeks, but that was before they saw the outcome and were forced to call it off. A couple of the prisoners had to be released from the study because the situation became too much for them to handle. They had developed extreme stress reactions and suffered from emotional trauma. Unlike the prisoners, who had to spend 24 hours in the cells, the guards were able to return to their homes and normal lives after their 8-hour shifts were over (Annenberg Learner, 2001). The guards were told not to harm the prisoners physically but to make them feel “powerless”. The prisoners were ridiculed, stripped naked, and deprived of sleep (Ratnesar, 2011). To make the prisoners feel anonymous, they were each given an ID number. Each prisoner was only allowed to be called by his ID number and could only refer to himself as that number (Social Psychology Network,
Dr. Philip Zimbardo was born March 23, 1933, in New York City. He went to Brooklyn College and graduated in 1954 with three …show more content…
The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo, along with Craig Haney, Curt Banks, and Carlo Prescott (Annenburg Learner, 2001). The purpose of the experiment was to see what would happen if one group had authority over another group and how good people would act under bad situations (Good Therapy, 2015). Students volunteered to be a part of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Before the experiment started they tested each student to make sure they were healthy - psychologically and physically (Annenberg Learner, 2001). They randomly selected 24 applicants out of 70 that were tested. The start of the study was on August 17, 1971. It took place in a fake prison in the basement of Jordan Hall (Ratnesar, 2011). The experiment was planned to last two weeks, but that was before they saw the outcome and were forced to call it off. A couple of the prisoners had to be released from the study because the situation became too much for them to handle. They had developed extreme stress reactions and suffered from emotional trauma. Unlike the prisoners, who had to spend 24 hours in the cells, the guards were able to return to their homes and normal lives after their 8-hour shifts were over (Annenberg Learner, 2001). The guards were told not to harm the prisoners physically but to make them feel “powerless”. The prisoners were ridiculed, stripped naked, and deprived of sleep (Ratnesar, 2011). To make the prisoners feel anonymous, they were each given an ID number. Each prisoner was only allowed to be called by his ID number and could only refer to himself as that number (Social Psychology Network,