...The Stanford Prison Experiment California State University, Long Beach The Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison Experiment is a very thought-provoking topic discussed in various classes. Professor and psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted this experiment through Stanford University. Twenty-four men were randomly selected to participate in a simulated prison environment and were given roles as prisoners or prison guards. This was done to challenge the moral compass of “good” individuals in a negative environment, which in this case was a prison. Surprisingly, the participants truly embodied their roles. Throughout the experiment, the prison guards enforced their authoritarian power and tormented the prisoners both mentally and physically. Despite being the conductor of the experiment, Zimbardo also played a role as the superintendent of the prison. The Stanford Prison Experiment was significant due to its controversial nature and continued discussion in the classroom. The experiment itself was a form of field research. According to Kendall (2014), field research develops “a fuller understanding… through observations, face-to-face discussions, and participation in events.” Ultimately, a field study is an experiment that takes place outside the laboratory. It incorporates observation and interviews of individuals in a more “natural” setting in order to gather qualitative data. The Stanford Prison experiment consisted of all of these characteristics. Additionally...
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...The Stanford prison experiment was a study held at Stanford University by Professor Philip Zimbardo, to study the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or a prison guard. The expirament was conducted from August 14 to August 20 of 1971 by a team of researchers led by psychology Zimbardo, and funded by the US Office of Naval Research because it was an interest of both the US Navy and Marine Corps as an investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners. In the expirement, twenty-four male students out of 75 were selected to take on a randomly assigned role of either prisoner and or guard in a mock prison situation. This mock prison was set up in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. The participants quickly adapted to their roles, exceding Zimbardo’s expectations. Within the first few days, the guards started to enforce authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture. However, falling into their role, many of the prisoners accepted psychological abuse. This brainwashing got to the point where, at the request of the guards, the prisoners would readily harass other prisoners who attempted to rebel against or question the guards authority. However, the guards and prisoners were not the only ones who were effected by the experiment. Even Zimbardo himself, was effected. In his role as the superintendent, he permitted the abuse to continue. These harsh and hostile surroundings caused two of...
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...Ethics is a broad subject that encompasses all different sets of moral guidelines. In terms of Sociology, ethics can be defined as mode that implores us to act in a way to benefit society. In the 1971 documentary, “Quiet Rage”, psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted a prison experiment at Stanford University aiming to gain knowledge in regards to the development of norms, roles, labels, and social expectations in a prison environment. Throughout this experiment Zimbardo lost control of the situation as the participants lost their own identities and became greatly involved with the roles that they were expected to act upon. As a result Zimbardo had to terminate the experiment before the study was completed due to unethical issues. The experiment was unethical, but it was a necessity in order to have acquired this beneficial knowledge that we possess today even though the trade off was inappropriate for the participants. Numerous reasons exist to why the experiment has violated the ethical standards. For example, the students who had played the role of prisoners were treated unethically by forcing them to clean the toilet with their bare hands, and were placed in total confinement of spaces that were only standing room for more than 24hrs. But why would the prisoners blindly follow the guards? According to Giddens, the size of a group affects the “quality of interaction and the capability of the group in accomplishing certain tasks” (Giddens 132). The more the prisoners the...
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...The historical cases of Humphrey’s “Tea Room” study (Sieber, 1977), Milgram’s “Obedience” study (Blass, 2007), Zimbardo’s “Prison Study” (Zimbardo, 2015) and Tuskegee study (Tuskegee University, 2015) showed the unethical research on human subjects. The studies were never reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB, 2014) because it was not around at that time. Today, the consideration of ethics needs to be a critical part of the substructure of the research process. In my study an informed consent would be covered with the range of procedures that must be implemented throughout the research. I have been tossed on two studies; I am doing this assignment with one of them. The ages involved in the study of the effects on health with social media, are ages 10 to 18, therefor, need parental or legal guardian consent. I don’t expect to anticipate any harm done to the participants since the participants will go about their normal routine day and would be studied by monitoring how often they use any form of social media and the effects of any metal or physical health concerns related to it. All the information you provide will be strictly confidential, and the participants name will not appear on the questionnaire. Instead, their questionnaire will contain an identification number only known to the researchers involved in the study. To satisfy the requirements of the IRB, I would have to assure that the following requirements’ are met: 1. Risk to subjects are minimized 2....
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...combined with changes in social behavior and organization. Psychology can help identify the components of the development of attitudes and how they change. Many psychologists subscribe to the belief that we take on, and act out certain roles because of cultures and societies (Social Roles and Expectations, n.d.). In 1971 Psychologist Philip Zimbardo along with his colleagues conducted a study that was focused on becoming a prisoner or prison guard. More than 70 applicants answered a newspaper ad and were given application and screening to eliminate people with psychological problem, medical disabilities, and a history of crime or drug abuse (Stanford Prison Experiment, n.d.). A prison environment was assembled in the basement of the Stanford University Psychology Department building. The planned two week investigation ended after only six days, due to the guards and questioning of its morality by Christina Maslach, who was a recent Stanford Ph.D. Social influence is a change in a person’s behavior conducted by the presence or actions of others (Coon & Mitterer, 2010). Stereotyping patterns can easily be identified, when referring to Zimbardo’s Prison, social roles in society where conformity, prejudice. The student that was in this experiment simply began to conform as they spontaneously changed their behavior to bring it into agreement to others. The students who portrayed guards in the experiment were given no detailed training on their responsibilities or duties. As...
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...Research with human subjects has a long and often troubled history in the United States (U.S.) and throughout the world. Chances are you already have heard of some of the most egregious and well-known examples of unethical research in the biomedical sciences, such as the experiments conducted by Nazi doctors and scientists on concentration camp prisoners during World War II, and the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) study titled "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" (Tuskegee Study). These abuses led to the creation of codes of research ethics in Europe and the U.S. In the wake of the Second World War, the subsequent Nuremberg Trials on war crimes produced the Nuremberg Code, which outlined ten points for conducting ethical research with human subjects. Nearly two decades later, the World Medical Association (WMA) developed a code of research ethics known as the Declaration of Helsinki, published in 1964 and subsequently revised. This document is built on both the Nuremberg Code and the physician's code of ethics known as the Declaration of Geneva. In the U.S., news that researchers deceived and withheld treatment from subjects who suffered from syphilis in the Tuskegee Study led to the creation of the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research (National Commission or "the Commission"). The Commission was charged with establishing a code of research ethics for U.S. research involving human subjects. In 1979...
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...M3. Explain why conformity and obedience are important in the public services, with reference to research studies. Conformity and obedience are forms of social influence which strongly affect our behaviour is social situations, from following fashions and unwritten social norms which organise our behaviour, to committing immoral acts because we are commanded to by someone who appears to be in a position of authority. This essay looks at the similarities and differences between the three, looking specifically at the factors that influence each two. Conformity within a group entails members changing their attitudes and beliefs in order to match those of others within the group. Those that conform tend to be obedient and compliant. In order to conform, the group member must attribute someone as having the legitimacy and credibility to lead or influence the group's behaviour. Without this "leader", conformity toward the group's goals will be less prevalent. If a member of the group fails to conform to the groups needs, he/she would lose credibility with the rest of the group. Conformity is a change in an individuals behaviour according to certain accepted standards within society as well as the influence of others whether this be a real or imaginary influence. There are 2 key concepts of conformity, acceptance or compliance. People plan to join a specific public service because they want to belong to that team because they may like the sentiments of the service etc. Hence...
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...for Personality Research DOI 10.2224/sbp.2011.39.6.729 TIME PERSPECTIVE AND LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG YOUNG ADULTS IN TAIWAN YU-JING GAO Fu Jen Catholic University, New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC Profiles of time perspective were explored using a person-oriented approach, and the relationship between balanced time perspective (BTP) and life satisfaction in young Taiwanese adults was examined. A cluster group was identified that fitted the configuration of BTP as proposed by Boniwell and Zimbardo (2004), that is, high past positive, high present hedonistic, and high future scores, combined with low past negative and low present fatalistic scores. Results showed that there were significant differences in life satisfaction between those with a BTP profile and those without. In addition, logistic regression results showed that individuals with more past-positive or future orientations or less past-negative orientation were more likely to have a high level of life satisfaction. Keywords: balanced time perspective, life satisfaction, cluster analysis, Taiwan, Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. People live in continual time flows composed of three temporal frames, that is, the past, the present, and the future. Psychology of time research involves two distinct paradigms, in one of which time is viewed as an objective phenomenon and in the other as a subjective phenomenon (Boniwell, Osin, Linley, & Ivanchenko, 2010). Time perspective (TP) is a key area of research within the psychological...
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...Professor Brown The Holocaust: History and Memory April 23, 2012 Ordinary Men In Christopher R. Browning’s Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and The Final Solution in Poland, Browning describes the story of how “ordinary men” were placed in an extraordinary situation that forever changed these men’s lives. Browning’s novel focuses on the role of the German Order Police, more specifically Reserve Battalion 101, and how they played a small, yet significant role in carrying out Hitler’s “Final Solution.” By focusing on the unit of Reserve Battalion 101, Browning aims to shed some light on how a battalion of less than 500 men could cause the deaths of nearly 83,000 Jews in the span of less than a year. Through his research, Browning illustrates how these men were not cold-blooded killers recruited for such a job, but rather a group of “ordinary” middle-aged men shaped by the situation at hand to carry out unspeakable acts all in search of a judenfrei world. When analyzing Browning’s work, the question of who were the men of Reserve Battalion 101 must first be answered. Originality, the main task of Reserve Battalion 101 was to aid in the “Germanizing” of Germany’s newly acquired regions, such as Poland, through deportations of the “undesirables” to the “east.” Places like the Łódź ghetto became the new homes for hundreds of thousands of Polish Jews, forced to live in sealed-off communities. Between November 1940 and May 1941, Reserve battalion 101 was assigned...
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...chapter one Sociology: Perspective, Theory, and Method What sets human beings apart from all other forms of life? Why is sociology an important tool for your future? How should you respond to people whose way of life differs from your own? ISBN: 0-536-12116-8 Societ y: The Basics, Eighth Ed itio n by Jo hn J. Ma cio nis. Published b y Prentice -Hall. Co pyright © 2006 by Pear son Edu cation, In c. ISBN: 0-536-12116-8 L The sociological perspective shows us patterns of behavior common within a society. Here, a member of Brazil’s Pataxo tribe offers a traditional greeting to a visitor. Societ y: The Basics, Eighth Ed itio n by Jo hn J. Ma cio nis. Published b y Prentice -Hall. Co pyright © 2006 by Pear son Edu cation, In c. I f you were to ask 100 people, “Why do couples marry?” it is a safe bet that at least ninety would reply, “People marry because they fall in love.” Indeed, it is hard for us to imagine a happy marriage without love; likewise, when people fall in love, we expect them to think about marriage. But is the decision about whom to marry really so simple and so personal? There is plenty of evidence that if love is the key to marriage, Cupid’s arrow is carefully aimed by the society around us. In short, society has a number of “rules” about whom we should marry. What are they? Right off the bat, society rules out half the population because U.S. laws (despite recent actions in cities such as San Francisco and likely...
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...Chapter Overview 16.1 Social Thought and Behavior Groups Core Social Motives CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.1 Describing 16.3 Attribution: The Person or the Situation? Fundamental Attribution Error Actor-Observer Bias Defensive Attribution Self-Serving Bias Social Roles 16.2 Person Perception Social Categorization Physical Appearance Stereotypes Subjectivity Culture and Person Perception CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.3 Explaining Attributional Biases 16.4 Attitudes and Social Judgments Components of Attitudes Relieving Cognitive Dissonance Influencing Attitudes: Persuasion The Foot-in-the-Door Technique Role Playing Affects Attitudes CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.2 Person Perception and Musical Tastes Culture and Attitudes CONCEPT LEARNING CHECK 16.4 Explaining Persuasion 16 Learning Objectives Social Psychology 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 Define social psychology. Compare and contrast social cognition, social influence, and social norms. Describe the core social motives. Illustrate social categorization. Discuss how stereotypes and subjectivity impact personal perception. Explain the various types of attribution. Describe the components of attitudes. Illustrate the different ways to influence attitudes. Differentiate between conformity, obedience, and compliance. Describe the biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of prejudice, aggression, and attraction. Discuss the pros and cons of group influence on an individual...
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...animal Books by Elliot Aronson Theories of Cognitive Consistency (with R. Abelson et al.), 1968 Voices of Modern Psychology, 1969 The Social Animal, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004; (with J. Aronson), 2008 Readings About the Social Animal, 1973, 1977, 1981, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2004; (with J. Aronson), 2008 Social Psychology (with R. Helmreich), 1973 Research Methods in Social Psychology (with J. M. Carlsmith & P. Ellsworth), 1976 The Jigsaw Classroom (with C. Stephan et al.), 1978 Burnout: From Tedium to Personal Growth (with A. Pines & D. Kafry), 1981 Energy Use: The Human Dimension (with P. C. Stern), 1984 The Handbook of Social Psychology (with G. Lindzey), 3rd ed., 1985 Career Burnout (with A. Pines), 1988 Methods of Research in Social Psychology (with P. Ellsworth, J. M. Carlsmith, & M. H. Gonzales), 1990 Age of Propaganda (with A. R. Pratkanis), 1992, 2000 Social Psychology, Vols. 1–3 (with A. R. Pratkanis), 1992 Social Psychology: The Heart and the Mind (with T. D. Wilson & R. M. Akert), 1994 Cooperation in the Classroom: The Jigsaw Method (with S. Patnoe), 1997 Nobody Left to Hate: Teaching Compassion After Columbine, 2000 Social Psychology: An Introduction (with T. D. Wilson & R. M. Akert), 2002, 2005, 2007 The Adventures of Ruthie and a Little Boy Named Grandpa (with R. Aronson), 2006 Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) (with C. Tavris), 2007 Books by Joshua Aronson Improving Academic Achievement, 2002 The Social Animal To...
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...VOLUME EDITOR S. WALLER is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Montana State University Bozeman. Her areas of research are philosophy of neurology, philosophy of cognitive ethology (especially dolphins, wolves, and coyotes), and philosophy of mind, specifically the parts of the mind we disavow. SERIES EDITOR FRITZ ALLHOFF is an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Western Michigan University, as well as a Senior Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics. In addition to editing the Philosophy for Everyone series, Allhoff is the volume editor or co-editor for several titles, including Wine & Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007), Whiskey & Philosophy (with Marcus P. Adams, Wiley, 2009), and Food & Philosophy (with Dave Monroe,Wiley-Blackwell, 2007). P H I L O S O P H Y F O R E V E RYO N E Series editor: Fritz Allhoff Not so much a subject matter, philosophy is a way of thinking.Thinking not just about the Big Questions, but about little ones too.This series invites everyone to ponder things they care about, big or small, significant, serious … or just curious. Running & Philosophy: A Marathon for the Mind Edited by Michael W. Austin Wine & Philosophy: A Symposium on Thinking and Drinking Edited by Fritz Allhoff Food & Philosophy: Eat,Think and Be Merry Edited by Fritz Allhoff and Dave Monroe Beer & Philosophy: The Unexamined Beer Isn’t Worth Drinking Edited by Steven D. Hales Whiskey & Philosophy:...
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