My first book! Learn about Psychology’s most famous studies as well as recent ones that are fun and provide insight on human psychology. Step-by-step instructions on how to carry out 50 psychology studies.
My newest book! 100 word descriptions of 200 of the most common terms used in the field of psychology. Learn about the field in a fast, fun way.
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Rosie
May 20, 2020I am extremely interested by this experiment. I am shocked that it was allowed to go ahead seeing as many people would see it as human rights being abused. However, it could be argued that what happened to the college students that played prisoners was their own fault seeing as they signed up to the experiment meaning that it was voluntary. I learnt that it took place in the middle of the Vietnam war in 1971, at a time when police officers and people from the army were hated, by college students in particular. I feel as though this experiment was not particularly ethical, but possibly needed seeing as it proves that individuals are capable of changing their behaviors dramatically due to something as simple as a change in role.
kayla and josie
May 20, 2020the Stanford prison study used ordinary people to make the guards and inmates of a prison. in this study the guards showed cruel behaviour towards the inmates, which showed how people can just change the behaviour due to a role. as one guard started to show abusive behaviour the other guards joined in because of influence. I think this study shows how good people can end up doing bad things because of their position and it can influence other people to do the wrong thing. power plays a part as this is what influences them.
Hollie Satchell
May 20, 2020I think the Stanford Prison Study was wrong, but somewhat necessary. It revealed how regular people would behave if given enough power and I think it was really interesting to see how they behaved. A few months ago I did my own research into this study and found that almost all of the inmates actually believed that they were in prison for a reason – they had all totally forgotten that it was fake. This was all but one volunteer, who was added to the study late, and would not conform to the roles given. There was even a case of one of the volunteers going mad in isolation, they became so insane that they had to be taken out of the study. When the researcher tried to explain to him that it was all fake, the volunteer could not comprehend what he was saying. Eventually, the investigation had to end because the wife of the head researcher found out about the awful conditions the men were living in, and demanded the study to end. It’s fascinating to see what the human mind will do when forced into a situation like this (then again, the study was optional, and the volunteers could leave at any time, they had just forgotten that none of it was real), it’s as if all memory of the outside world was blocked. This study is one of the most interesting cases I’ve ever heard of. There is also evidence that after less than a week, the living conditions for the ‘criminals’ were really similar to the conditions that captured people’s lived in during World War Two. I believe the study was necessary because it’s important to see what will happen to humanity if people are given too much power (and in many places, this is unfortunately the case) when there are little to no rules put in place. It is also important because it shows how people with no experience should never have such power, it will easily go to their heads and they will forget about all other aspects of life. Then again, this study is extremely controversial, and there are many unanswered questions about it: What if it were women and not men? What if the ratio of guards to criminals was different? What if the researchers weren’t physically involved in the study? (This, for some people, is the most controversial thing about the experiment. The researchers should have been behind the scenes and not in the investigation itself) I have yet to watch the film about this study, but after researching about it on two different occasions, I am more interested in it than ever.