What Did the Stanford Prison Experiment Show? Dr. Phil Zimbardo and More | Talks at Google

TL;DR

The Stanford Prison Experiment showed how ordinary, intelligent college students could cross the line between good and evil under situational and systemic pressures. Psychologist Philip Zimbardo explains why he studied role-driven behavior and compares the experiment with Stanley Milgram’s obedience research, while director Kyle Patrick Alvarez discusses the film adaptation. Read on for the studies, people and numbers behind the discussion.

Transcript

MALE SPEAKER: Well, good afternoon to everybody here in Mountain View. Thanks for coming out. To our Googlers tuning in in offices around the world, good day to you as well. So we're in for a treat today. The gentlemen to my right probably need no introduction, but I'll still venture to try to give them one anyway. The gentleman to my immediate rig... Read More

Key Insights

• ✊ The Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated the dark side of human nature and the potential for power and authority to influence behavior.
• 🎥 The film adaptation of the experiment stayed true to the events and emotions of the original study.

Questions & Answers

Q: What did the Stanford Prison Experiment show?

The experiment highlighted how ordinary, intelligent college students could cross the line between good and evil. Zimbardo attributes this shift to situational and systemic forces rather than an explicit instruction to behave well or badly.

Q: Why did Philip Zimbardo conduct the Stanford Prison Experiment?

Zimbardo wanted to examine what happens when situational forces push people in a negative direction without anyone directly telling them to do good or bad. He was especially interested in group behavior and roles that can encourage bullying, cheating, lying, stealing or corruption.

Q: When did the Stanford Prison Experiment take place?

The Stanford Prison Experiment took place in 1971. The discussion places it after Stanley Milgram’s obedience research, which began in 1961.

Q: How was Milgram’s study designed?

Adults who thought they had joined a memory study were assigned the teacher role, while another apparent participant was actually a confederate playing the pupil. Teachers were told to press switches on a shock box when the pupil answered incorrectly.

Q: What happened in Milgram’s obedience study?

The shock box had 30 switches, beginning at 15 volts and increasing by 15 volts with each switch. Two out of every three of the 1,000 subjects continued to 450 volts, despite verbal objections and the apparent pupil becoming unresponsive.

Q: How could participants stop taking part in Milgram’s study?

Participants had to say they quit three times to get out of the experiment. Saying it once or twice was described as insufficient.

Q: Who are the speakers in this Talks at Google discussion?

The discussion features director Kyle Patrick Alvarez and psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo, also called Dr. Z and Dr. Zimbardo. Alvarez directed the film "The Stanford Prison Experiment," while Zimbardo is best known for the controversial experiment.

Q: What does the discussion say about the film The Stanford Prison Experiment?

The film marks Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s third film as a director. It appeared at the Sundance Film Festival and the Nantucket Film Festival, and Alvarez confirmed that it won two awards at Sundance.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Definition: The Stanford Prison Experiment examined how situational and systemic forces could push ordinary, intelligent college students across the line between good and evil.

• When: The Stanford Prison Experiment took place in 1971.

• Who: Psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo and director Kyle Patrick Alvarez discuss the experiment and its film adaptation at Talks at Google.

• Compare: Milgram studied direct obedience to authority, while Zimbardo examined negative behavior produced by situations, groups and assigned roles.

• Number: Milgram recruited adults from 20 to 50 years old and paid them $4 an hour for what they believed was memory research.

• Tool: Milgram’s shock box had 30 switches, starting at 15 volts and increasing by 15 volts per switch.

• Step 1: The participant acting as teacher presented material to an apparent pupil who was actually a confederate.

• Step 2: The teacher pressed a shock-box button when the pupil gave an incorrect answer.

• Step 3: To leave, the teacher had to say "I quit" three times because saying it once or twice was insufficient.

• Number: Two out of every three of the 1,000 subjects continued to 450 volts.

• Number: Kyle Patrick Alvarez’s Stanford Prison Experiment was his third film as a director and won two awards at Sundance.