The Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

a person could do to another human being when they have near absolute power. A vast majority of people believe that they would never be able to do all the harmful things that were conducted during the prison experiment; yet I feel, after reading about this experiment and other similar experiments, that everyone is susceptible to the tantalizing taste of power. As an example, just recently I had a spat with my older brother. He exhibited sings of trying to impose absolute authority on matters he…

reviewing the article 10 Psychological Studies that Will Change What You Think You Know About Yourself (written by Gregoire), I found interesting the 1989 study from Harvard and Kent State University on “change blindness” (as cited by Gregoire). In this experiment the subjects started out talking to one actor. Their view is blocked from the person to whom they are speaking, and another actor steps in to finish the conversation to see if the change is observed by the participant. One half of the…

Over the years, many controversial psychology experiments were lead by brilliant psychologists to study human behaviour in different situations. Many of them are known, like the “Obedience to Authority Experiment”, lead by psychologist Stanley Milgram. One of the most notorious experiments in the history of psychology is the “ Stanford Prison Experiment ” put together by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, whose intention was to study the psychological effect of human behaviour when good people are…

The Stanford Prison Experiment and the Abu Ghirab stories are both similar and yet different. The forms of abuse experienced in both cases were unimaginable and dehumanizing. No one should have to experience these kinds of treatment at any time in their lives. In both stories, persons experienced forms of psychological, emotional, verbal, physical, and many other forms of abuse. These individuals were dehumanized, tortured, humiliated, pressured, suffered aggression, harassed and coerced. They…

madness is easily ripped to shreds. Pressure frequently refines character, but it mostly defines character; when pressure is at its strongest, people find out who they really are. In the sociological experiments: The Milgram Experiment, Prudential: Everybody’s Doing It, and the Stanford Prison Experiment, that theory is tested, and society is easily able to analyze the differences between circumstances and people’s decisions, which raises the questions: whether conformity is better than…

that intrinsic traits within one’s personality are responsible for cruel and offensive behaviour displayed in prison environments. Zimbardo conducted a study whereby he aimed to investigate whether individuals would conform to roles of either a guard, or prisoner, in a simulated prison setting. The participants were recruited by a newspaper advertisement in the Palo Alto Times and The Stanford Daily offering…

The Stanford experiment separated two groups of people being the prisoners and the correctional officers. The objective of this experiment was to see the impact a position of power would have to a person. This would not only show how human nature changes when being put in this position but also explain why they act the way they do. Ordinary people are put into these positions and are able to do extraordinary activities due to their social psychological influences. This related to “The Lottery”…

In 1971, Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment which tested the behaviors of both prisoners and guards in a simulated prison created by him and his colleagues at Stanford University. In the article written by Dr. Zimbardo, Pathology of Imprisonment, he discusses the process of the experiment and his findings. To begin, Dr. Zimbardo gathered a group of 24 male student volunteers. All of the students that participated in the study received compensation of $15 per day. Each student was…

You Can’t Be a Sweet Cucumber in a Vinegar Barrel Zimbardo presents a large piece of information about the situations and factors causing people behave violently and the relation between the knowledge of such factors and the ability to judge the Abu Ghraib scandal adequately. The author tries to investigate the causes of evil behavior of some people and attempts to determine whether the initial characteristics of a person make his/her behave in an unacceptable way, or certain conditions,…

In 1971 the Stanford University Northern California carried out one of the popular experiment in the history of psychology. The idea belongs to psychologist Philip Zimbardo where he chose to test his ideas. He spent most of his early career planning behavioral studies that focused on biological processes such as hunger and thirst. In 1960's he really started to focus on social psychology issues, such as conformity. Zimbardo wanted to know what mattered more, our moral or our environment. Philip…