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Stanford Prison Experiment

Totenkindly

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Stanford Prison Experiment Video
Has anyone ever seen/heard of this? It's kind of old, but really interesting none the less.

Along with Milgrom's "zap the subject" experiments, one of the most famous psych/socio tests of last century.

They shut it down early because of the negative group dynamics. Very fascinating stuff.
 

disregard

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I've read The Lucifer Effect, which is the book written by the professor administering the experiment.. thanks for the link to the video.
 

Geoff

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Great stuff.. anyone doesn't know about this, worth a look/read. It's amazingly depressing what it says about the human psyche, too! Hooray!
 

Nadir

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Only now reading about it. Quite morbid. And interesting how some guards were apparently kinder and some genuinely sadistic.
 

sassafrassquatch

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The prison experiment describes perfectly how I see the world. We're all prisoners and our rulers are the prison guards. It's why I don't trust anyone with the slightest amount of power or authority.
 

nightning

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*nods* Very fascinating stuff indeed... It's a classic for intro psyc classes. :yes: Good stuff!
 

mippus

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There is a rather shocking but impressive German filmversion of it: "Experiment".
Experiment, Das (2001)

The experiment in itself is absolutely amazing and frightening.
 

Wolf

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This strongly reminds me of my time in the prison camps and why I never wish to return to them. It may be the main thing that gave me my strong resistance to authority through undermining their power and attacking their position. Of course, some of it is just my personality.
 

JAVO

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This is a classic! I find the Milgram Shock Experiments even more disturbing though.

If I ever get a PhD, it will likely be in social psych.

They really went full force with this experiment, and there's no way any US institution would allow it today. From The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment:

Blindfolded and in a state of mild shock over their surprise arrest by the city police, our prisoners were put into a car and driven to the "Stanford County Jail" for further processing.
...
Each prisoner was systematically searched and stripped naked. He was then deloused with a spray, to convey our belief that he may have germs or lice
...
Out of 50 or more outsiders who had seen our prison ...only one who ever questioned its morality. Once she countered the power of the situation, however, it became clear that the study should be ended.
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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I'm just gonna come out and say it... I studied the experiments in every fucking psych class I took. And, I was a psych major. I never thought the experiments were even remotely interesting. *shrug*
 

Geoff

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I'm just gonna come out and say it... I studied the experiments in every fucking psych class I took. And, I was a psych major. I never thought the experiments were even remotely interesting. *shrug*

Is that because it was already obvious to you that if you put people in a position of power they will commit atrocities just because of the dynamic?
 

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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Is that because it was already obvious to you that if you put people in a position of power they will commit atrocities just because of the dynamic?

It could be a number of things:
1. Hindsight bias.
2. Getting exposed to experiments I found much more interesting.
3. Like you said, human nature is naturally aggressive, it just needs an outlet/opportunity to express itself. And people will naturally submit to authority.
 

Totenkindly

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I'm just gonna come out and say it... I studied the experiments in every fucking psych class I took. And, I was a psych major. I never thought the experiments were even remotely interesting. *shrug*

*opens her dog-eared "Grand MBTIc Social Experiment" notebook to Edahn's page and scribbles furiously*
 

Geoff

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It could be a number of things:
1. Hindsight bias.
2. Getting exposed to experiments I found much more interesting.
3. Like you said, human nature is naturally aggressive, it just needs an outlet/opportunity to express itself. And people will naturally submit to authority.

Could you point me (us?) in the direction of experiments you found more interesting? (genuine question, I'm pretty ignorant in this area)
 

CzeCze

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This was experiment had very disturbing results. Extremely eye-opening about how systems of oppression work. In a metaview it also speaks to the irresponsibility and arrogance of people conducting experiments aka academics and social scientists.
 
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