Description of Study
Primary Researcher The Stanford Prison Experiment was created by Philip G. Zimbardo, a psychology professor at Stanford University, and was carried out by Zimbardo and his research group. The study was funded by the US Office of Naval Research as both the US Navy and US Marine Corps were interested in the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners (Zimbardo, 2015).
|
Philip Zimbardo [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 4, 2017 from nypost.com.2015/07/12/this-experiment-proved-man-was-inherently-evil-but-it-was-a-sham/
|
Time Period
Zimbardo converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a mock prison (McLeod, 2008). During the time period, the building was relatively empty due to classes not being in session. The experiment, which was designed to last two weeks, only lasted from August 14-20, 1971. The experiment had to be cancelled after six days due to the adverse effects it was having on the participants. Zimbardo states, "Our planned two-week experiment had to be aborted after only six days because the experience dramatically and painfully transformed most of the participants in ways we did not anticipate, prepare for, or predict (Haney, Zimbardo, 1998).
Participants
Male college students responded to a newspaper ad to take part in "a psychological study of prison life," to be paid $15 a day for a study to last for 1 to 2 weeks (Carnahan & McFarland, 2007). There were a total of 75 individuals who volunteered to take part in the experiment. These volunteers were interviewed and given personality tests. Individuals who had a history of drug abuse, committing crimes, medical disabilities, or psychological problems were ruled out to participate in the study. Twenty four young men "judged to be the most stable (physically and mentally), most mature, and least involved in antisocial behavior" (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973) were chosen.
|
Ad for participants [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2017, from http://www.prisonexp.org/gallery/
|