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Exercise 2b

Exercise 2b

Q Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) is one of the most prominent experiments that made a huge impact not only on the field of psychology but also on the debate about research ethics, on criminal justice research, and on our general understanding of human nature. Watch the following video about the experiment: After watching the video, visit www.prisonexp.org (Links to an external site.) to get more information about the experiment and its effects on the participants. Read discussion questions on this page: http://www.prisonexp.org/discussion-questions/ (Links to an external site.) Choose any 2 discussion questions among these 16 questions and write your answer to each of the two you selected (aim for a paragraph or two for each answer). Make sure to write down the question (copy and paste) in front of each answer. Your answers will be graded based on how thoughtful they are. Points are taken off for submission after the due date. To avoid losing work due to technical glitches, complete the assignment in Word, save it, and then either attach the Word file to the submission or copy and paste your text into the assignment frame (NOT into the Comments field).

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The prisoners knew that they were getting involved in an experiment and that the researcher conducting the experiment would not harm them in any way or form. During their stay at the mock prisons, they developed cognitive dissonance (feeling uneasy and feeling tensed because of the prevailing situation), so they act up and develop these characteristics towards the guards to alleviate dissonance. Taking, for instance, the early stages of the experiment, the prisoners had protested against the guards. They did not want the guards into their rooms, so they made us of their beds to keep the prison guards from opening their doors.