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what was the major flaw in the stanford prison experiment?

Author

Daniel Johnston

Updated on July 01, 2026

The study has received many ethical criticisms, including lack of fully informed consent by participants as Zimbardo himself did not know what would happen in the experiment (it was unpredictable). Also, the prisoners did not consent to being ‘arrested’ at home.

What error did Zimbardo make in his research?

One mistake was his taking on the role of prison superintendent. Instead of simply observing from a neutral location or reviewing the data later, Zimbardo made himself an authority figure, which meant he was part of the experiment.

Why was the Stanford prison experiment a failure?

Results. While the Stanford Prison Experiment was originally slated to last 14 days, it had to be stopped after just six due to what was happening to the student participants. 3 The guards became abusive, and the prisoners began to show signs of extreme stress and anxiety.

What is one major critique of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The Stanford Prison Experiment has been critiqued for the fact that it involved all white men except for a single Asian-American male. It was also advertised as a “prison study” in classified ads at the time, in order to attract volunteer participants.

What was the major flaw in the Stanford Prison Experiment quizlet?

What was the major flaw in the Stanford prison experiment? Zimbardo did not use a control group.

Was the Stanford Prison Experiment a failure?

The Stanford Prison Experiment — the infamous 1971 exercise in which regular college students placed in a mock prison suddenly transformed into aggressive guards and hysterical prisoners — was deeply flawed, a new investigation reveals.

Why is the Stanford Prison Experiment discredited?

The study was criticized in 2013 for demand characteristics by psychologist Peter Gray, who argued that participants in psychological experiments are more likely to do what they believe the researchers want them to do, and specifically in the case of the SPE, “to act out their stereotyped views of what prisoners and

What is a major problem with the original Milgram study?

what is a major problem with the original Milgram study? Milgram lied to his respondents, making his study borderline unethical. The field of social psychology studies topics at the intrapersonal level.

Is the strengthening of an original group attitude?

Group polarization is the strengthening of an original group attitude following the discussion of views within a group (Teger & Pruitt, 1967). That is, if a group initially favors a viewpoint, after discussion the group consensus is likely a stronger endorsement of the viewpoint.