The Stanford Prison

Experiment
By: Mariam Arshad, Chloe Thompson & Noshaba Qureshi
PREP 1300 Science Fair Team Project
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 Overview

● Slide 1- Title page

● Slide 2-Overview ● Quiz
● Slide 3-6- What was the Stanford ● Thank You
Prison experiment? ● References Page
● Slide 7- Youtube video
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 at was the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted in August 1971 in California. It was led by psychology professor Philip G.
Zimbardo. He recruited Stanford College students in a newspaper ad. Twenty four of the students were carefully screened
and randomly assigned as prisoners or guards. They were judged to be the most mentally and physically stable out of 75
applicants. The point of the experiment was to study the psychological effects of authority and powerlessness in prison
environments. The experiment was supposed to last about 1-2 weeks but had initially only lasted 6 days due to being
terminated as the prison experiment got out of hand and “prisoners” were forced to endure abuse at the hands of their peers.
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 What was the Stanford Prison
Experiment?
Zimbardo created a mock prison from a basement of the Stanford University
psychology building. Participants were paid $15 a day and did not know each other
before the experiment. The participants were treated like real criminals. They were
arrested at their own homes without warning and were fingerprinted and
photographed at a police station and after were blindfolded and taken to the mock
prison. When participants arrived at the prison, they were stripped, deloused, and
all their personal belongings were taken away from them, and they were given a
prison uniform and some bedding like a real prison. Participants were given an ID
number and could only be called by that number and not their real name. Their
uniform comprised of a smock, their ID number, a nylon cap to cover their hair and
a locked chain around one ankle. The guards were dressed in khaki uniforms and
wore sunglasses so they could not make eye contact with the prisoners. Guards
worked 8 hours a shift and others would remain on call. Guards were allowed to do
what they thought was necessary to maintain law and order and had no training.
Physical violence was not permitted.
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 What was the Stanford Prison
Experiment?
During the beginning of the experiment, guards began harassing
prisoners. Prisoners would be awoken at all hours of the night
multiple times by the guards blowing their whistles for number
counts. They were insulted and dehumanized by the guards and
were given petty orders and boring tasks to accomplish. Push ups
were the common form of physical punishment. Prisoners became
submissive and guards became more aggressive and assertive
towards them. Prisoners began having mental breakdowns and
guards abused their power which ultimately led to the ending of
the experiment..
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 What was the Stanford Prison
Experiment?
The first day of the experiment was successful and
had no problems. But on the second day the
prisoners began rebelling and guards were caught
by surprise and were unprepared. Prisoners
removed their caps, ripped off their ID numbers,
and barricaded themselves in their cells with their
beds against the doors. Prisoners taunted and
cursed the guards, and the guards became angry.
The upset guards met together the morning shift
after the occurrence and decided to treat the
situation with force. Guards shot fire extinguishers
which had skin-chilling carbon dioxide at the
prisoners to force them away from their doors. Then
the guards forced themselves into the cells,
stripped the prisoners naked, took their beds, and
forced them into solitary confinement. They
continued to harass and intimidate the prisoners.
Guards became more controlling over the prisoners
and even going to the toilet became a privilege.
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They were forced to use buckets and often times
were not allowed to empty them which caused the
prison to smell of urine and feces.
Solitary confinement or “the hole”
was a small opening at the very
end of the hall. It was dark, cold,
and confining. It was two feet wide
and two feet deep. There were no
windows and no clocks and this
resulted some prisoners to have
hallucinations and time-distorting
experiences. A small corridor in
the basement was the prisoners
“yard”where they were allowed to
walk, eat, and exercise. The
bathroom was down the hall, but
prisoners would be blindfolded so
they would not know their way
around the prison. The cells were
dark and covered in steel bars, the
cell numbers, and had no
windows.
 The Effects of The Experiment
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 What was the Stanford Prison
Experiment?
An inside look of the prison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePFFf5gRKo
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 Impact on present Psychology

Stanford Prison Experiment:

One of psychology's most compelling examples

of how good people may turn into evil doers

and how healthy individuals can have

pathological reactions
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 Impact on present Psychology

Even though the events in this experiment

were upsetting, they have helped many Some of this included:
individuals understand how much an
environment may influence behaviour. They've
also encouraged a lot of people to think about ● Hostile interactions
what evil is. How spooky was it? Due to
disturbing levels of abuse and cruelty ● dehumanizing
committed against student "prisoners" by other
student "guards," the planned two-week ● Guards become abusive towards prisoners
experiment was called off after only six days.
● Prisoners become depressed

● Acute anxiety
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 Impact on present
Psychology

The experiment gained notoriety and was

frequently mentioned in textbooks and
other works. The Stanford Prison
Experiment highlighted the significant
influence that environment may have on
behaviour.
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 Impact on present
Psychology
Even though Zimbardo's most famous
experiment was conducted many years
ago, its effects can still be seen in
psychology today. Images of torture and
inhumane treatment of detainees that were
obtained from the Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq
were disturbing echoes of Zimbardo's
famed experiment. Many people have
critics on the lack of realism.
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Since it was a simulated experiment many
people agree that it doesn't match the real
world situation. It's impossible to mimic all
of the environment variables. There's also
recent criticism over the design and methods
that went into the authenticity. The lack of
generalizability is also suggested as most of
the participants were white and middle class
men so it doesn't apply to a wider population.
Thank you!
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 References
❏ Mcleod, S. (n.d.). The Stanford Prison Experiment. Stanford Prison Experiment | Simply Psychology. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
❏ The story: An overview of the experiment. Stanford Prison Experiment. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://www.prisonexp.org/the-story
❏ BMAPify. (2013, April 16). Zimbardo prison experiment (shortened clip). YouTube. Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GePFFf5gRKo
❏ The Stanford Prison Experiment: 40 years later. Stanford Libraries. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2022, from https://library.stanford.edu/spc/current-exhibits/past-
exhibits/stanford-prison-experiment-40-years-later#:~:text=Carried%20out%20August%2015%2D21,using%20a%20local%20newspaper%20ad.
❏ Cherry, K. (2021, April 16). Why the stanford prison experiment is still infamous decades later. Verywell Mind. Retrieved December 11, 2022, from
https://www.verywellmind.com/the-stanford-prison-experiment-2794995
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