Bert&Ernie Posted February 22, 2013 The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted at Stanford University from August 14 to August 20 of 1971 by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. It was funded by the US office of Naval Research and was of interest to both the US Navy and Marine Corps as an investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners. Twenty-four male students out of 75 were selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. The participants adapted to their roles well beyond Zimbardo's expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture. Many of the prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, at the request of the guards, readily harassed other prisoners who attempted to prevent it. The experiment even affected Zimbardo himself, who, in his role as the superintendent, permitted the abuse to continue. Two of the prisoners quit the experiment early and the entire experiment was abruptly stopped after only six days. Certain portions of the experiment were filmed and excerpts of footage are publicly available. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYv3J12pARM Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Thelema Posted February 22, 2013 i believe this is the basis of the movie "the experiment". A great movie! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mira Posted February 22, 2013 (edited) The Experiment as in the German one "Das Experiment" with Mortiz Bleibtreu of Lola Rennt (Run Lola Run) fame? Unfortunately not historically accurate at all/a bit sensationalist, but a good movie none the less. Edited February 23, 2013 by mira 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yeti101 Posted February 23, 2013 If you are interested in ethically questionable psychology experiments (and the people who conducted them) you might look up Stanley Milgram and Harry Harlow. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
goneski Posted February 23, 2013 I'd be a bit worried if you hadn't heard of the Stanford prison experiment.. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
