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Stanford prison experiment
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{{Short description|Controversial 1971 psychological experiment}} {{About|the psychology experiment|the American punk rock band|Stanford Prison Experiment (band)|the film|The Stanford Prison Experiment (film){{!}}''The Stanford Prison Experiment'' (film)}} {{Redirect|Stanford experiment|the experiment on delayed gratification|Stanford marshmallow experiment}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2018}} {{Infobox event | title = Stanford prison experiment | image = Plaque Dedicated to the Location of the Stanford Prison Experiment.jpg | image_upright = | image_alt = Plaque with the text: "Site of the Standford Prison Experiment, 1971, conducted by Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo" | caption = [[Commemorative plaque|Plaque]] at the location of the Stanford prison experiment | native_name = | native_name_lang = | english_name = | time = | timezone = | duration = <!-- {{duration|h=x|m=x|s=x}} or {{time interval|date1|date2|options}} --> | date = {{start and end dates|1971|08|14|1971|08|21}} | venue = | location = Single corridor in the basement of the [[Stanford University]]βs [[psychology]] building | coordinates = {{coord|37.4286304|-122.1729957|region:US-CA_type:event|display=inline,title}} | also_known_as = [[Philip Zimbardo|Zimbardo]] prison experiment<br>SPE<br>ZPE | type = Psychology experiment | theme = | cause = | motive = | target = | perpetrator = | first_reporter = | budget = | patron = <!-- or |patrons= --> | organisers = | participants = | outcome = | casualties1 = | casualties2 = | casualties3 = | reported deaths = | reported injuries = | reported missing = | reported property damage = | burial = | displaced = | inquiries = | inquest = | coroner = | arrests = | suspects = | accused = | convicted = | charges = | trial = | verdict = | convictions = | sentence = | publication_bans = | litigation = | awards = | url = | blank_label = <!-- or |blank_data= --> | blank1_label = <!-- or |blank1_data= --> | blank2_label = <!-- or |blank2_data= --> | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} --> | notes = }} <!--[[File:Plaque Dedicated to the Location of the Stanford Prison Experiment.jpg|thumb|Plaque at the location of the Stanford prison experiment|alt=Plaque with the text: "Site of the Standford Prison Experiment, 1971, conducted by Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo".]]--> The '''Stanford prison experiment''' ('''SPE'''), also referred to as the '''[[Philip Zimbardo|Zimbardo]] prison experiment''' ('''ZPE'''), was a controversial [[psychological experiment]] performed in August 1971 at [[Stanford University]]. It was designed to be a two-week [[simulation]] of a [[prison]] environment that examined the effects of [[Variable and attribute (research)|situational variables]] on participants' reactions and behaviors. [[Stanford University]] psychology professor [[Philip Zimbardo]] managed the research team who administered the study.<ref>{{Cite web|first=Victoria|last=Bekiempis|date=August 4, 2015|title=What Philip Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment Tell Us About Abuse of Power|url=https://www.newsweek.com/stanford-prison-experiment-age-justice-reform-359247|website=Newsweek}}</ref> Zimbardo ended the experiment early after realizing the guard participants' abuse of the prisoners had gone too far. Participants were recruited from the local community through an advertisement in the newspapers offering $15 per day ($116.18 in 2025) to male students who wanted to participate in a "psychological study of prison life". 24 participants were chosen after assessments of psychological stability and then assigned randomly to the role of prisoners or prison guards.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2. Setting up|url=https://www.prisonexp.org/setting-up|access-date=2021-08-19|website=Stanford Prison Experiment|language=en-US}}</ref> Critics have questioned the validity of these methods.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Le Texier|first=Thibault|date=2019-08-05|title=Debunking the Stanford Prison Experiment.|journal=American Psychologist|volume=74|issue=7|pages=823β839|language=en|doi=10.1037/amp0000401|pmid=31380664|s2cid=199437070 |issn=1935-990X|url=http://psyarxiv.com/mjhnp/}}</ref> Those volunteers selected to be "[[Prison guard|guards]]" were given uniforms designed specifically to de-individuate them, and they were instructed to prevent prisoners from escaping. The experiment started officially when "[[prisoner]]s" were arrested by real police of [[Palo Alto]]. During the next five days, [[psychological abuse]] of the prisoners by the "guards" became increasingly brutal. After psychologist [[Christina Maslach]] visited to evaluate the conditions, she was troubled to see how study participants were behaving and she confronted Zimbardo. He ended the experiment on the sixth day.<ref>{{Cite web|title=8. Conclusion|url=https://www.prisonexp.org/conclusion|access-date=2021-08-19|website=Stanford Prison Experiment|language=en-US}}</ref> The experiment has been referenced and critiqued as an example of an unethical psychological experiment, and the harm inflicted on the participants in this and other experiments during the post-World War II era prompted American universities to improve their ethical requirements and [[Institutional review board|institutional review]] for human experiment subjects in order to prevent them from being similarly harmed. Other researchers have found it difficult to reproduce the study, especially given those constraints.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.psypost.org/2014/09/intro-psychology-textbooks-gloss-criticisms-zimbardos-stanford-prison-experiment-27970|title=Intro to psychology textbooks gloss over criticisms of Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment|date=September 7, 2014}}</ref> Certain critics have described the study as unscientific and fraudulent.<ref name = "LeTexier">{{cite journal | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31380664/ | pmid=31380664 | doi=10.1037/amp0000401 | title=Debunking the Stanford Prison Experiment | journal=The American Psychologist | date=October 2019 | volume=74 | issue=7 | pages=823β839 | last1=Le Texier | first1=Thibault | s2cid=199437070 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Resnick |first=Brian |date=June 13, 2018 |title=The Stanford Prison Experiment was massively influential. We just learned it was a fraud. |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/6/13/17449118/stanford-prison-experiment-fraud-psychology-replication |website=Vox}}</ref> In particular, Thibault Le Texier has established that the guards were asked directly to behave in certain ways in order to confirm Zimbardo's conclusions, which were largely written in advance of the experiment. Zimbardo claimed that Le Texier's article was mostly ''[[ad hominem]]'' and ignored available data that contradicts his counterarguments, but the original participants, who were interviewed for the National Geographic documentary ''The Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth'', have largely confirmed many of Le Texier's claims.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ouellette |first=Jennifer |date=2024-11-13 |title=Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment 50 years later |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/11/revisting-the-stanford-prison-experiment-50-years-later/ |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-US}}</ref>
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