Haney, C., Banks, W.C. & Zimbardo, P.G. (1973)
A study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. Naval Research Review, 30, 4-17.
This is often referred to as the ‘Zimbardo’ experiment as Philip Zimbardo was the lead researcher on this project.
What was the AIM of this research?
Naval Research Review is not a psychological journal! Explain why this research was published here.
Explain how the participants for this study were selected.
Why do you think the participants had to be randomly assigned their roles as either prisoners or guards?
Mock Prison: this was created in the basement of the Psychology Department Building at Stanford University. It was made up of three cells (each 6ft by 9ft) with three prisoners to a cell, and a solitary confinement cell (a cupboard 2ft by 2ft by 7ft). There were guards’ rooms etc in an adjacent building. There was also a small enclosed room used as a prison yard which had an observation window concealing video equipment and observers.
What information were the participants given prior to the start of the study?
Outline the ‘arrest’ procedure used in this study. What effect do you think this would have had on the participants who were to play the prisoners?
Describe the uniforms worn by both prisoners and guards and the roles they had to play:
|
Guard’s uniform |
role / rules |
|
Prisoner’s uniform |
role / rules |
Outline the effect of the simulated prison on the prisoners:
Outline the effect of the simulated prison on the guards:
What is the evidence that these were ‘real’ effects rather than role-playing?
Explain what Zimbardo means by the term ‘pathological prisoner syndrome’. What processes contributed to this?