Transcript The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison
Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment:
Lecture objectives
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1. Visit the Stanford Prison Experiment.
2. Describe the social psychological
processes occurring in the SPE.
SPE
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The SPE can be viewed as a replication
of the autocratic leadership condition of
the Lewin democracy experiment.
However, in the SPE it is more than a
leader but an entire social system.
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Social Psychological Processes
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Altercasting: The key to understanding
the SPE is the ease in which humans
slip in and out of roles
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Process is underestimated which gives SPE
its sense of being unique
Flexible roles are essential part of human
life (compared to other social animals)
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Masks are common in our early ancestors
Evolutionary advantage
Social Psychological Processes
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Obedience to authority
Social conformity (norms)
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Granfalloon (social identities)
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Guards vs. prisoners
Cognitive dissonance
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Actions of others created a social reality
Rationalizing their actions
Dehumanize others
Rationalization trap
Power
SPE = Power of the situation
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Personality measures did not predict much
(other than some prisoner adjustments)
Fundamental & ultimate attribution errors are
often given as explanations for events such
as SPE
The lesson of the SPE is that is any person
(regardless of gender, personality, culture,
ethnicity, religion, etc.) behave as the
subjects did in the SPE.