Social Psychology: PSY 240

Social Psychology: PSY 240 Guidelines for Paper 1

1. Read “Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment” by Phillip G. Zimbardo.
2. The paper should be a minimum of 3 full pages in length, typed, and double-spaced. (Times New Roman, 12 font, 1 inch margins, left, right, top, and bottom)
3. Your paper should include a cover page with the title of your paper, the course number, the instructor’s name, the date, and your name. Please begin your paper at the beginning of the page following the title page.
4. Please make sure that when using material that is not of your own original thought that you cite your material correctly, in the body of the paper as well in the works reference page. Any student found not doing so will receive an F on his/her paper for plagiarizing. Please use APA style for this paper.
5. Utilize the spelling/grammar check on your computer and proofread for errors. It is advisable to do at least one publish of your paper prior to the final publish.
6. After reading the article, answer the following 4 questions. Please use paragraph form, including an introduction and a conclusion. The paper should include I think and I feel statements .
1. What are the main implications of the Stanford prison experiment? Could anyone, including you, be induced to act in the same way as the prisoners or guards if put into the same situation? Do personality and perhaps free will really have nothing to do with how someone will act in such situations? Or is free will not really possible in such situations? Discuss in detail your reasoning.

2. If bad behaviors can be induced by the techniques describes in this article, does that mean that people should be held responsible for the things they do? Would a defense of “the situation made me do it” absolve an individual of personal responsibility for his/her actions? Explain in detail your reasoning.

3. The article seems to suggest that given the right (or rather wrong) situation, it is fairly easy to bring out the worst in people. How could you prevent these negative effects? For example, would educating people about what happed in the Stanford prison experiment lessen the likelihood that such behaviors would recur? Discuss in detail your reasoning.

4. Discuss in detail the ethical issues surrounding the Stanford prison experiment. For instance, would the study have been approved today, why or why not? Review pages 43-47 in your textbook. Would the study have been approved today?

7. Include at least one source, outside of your text, to support or refute your view/thoughts/opinions on the topic of ethical guidelines in research. Please utilize the academic journals available via NVCC library, Access Articles – Databases: Magazine & Journal Articles – LibGuides at Naugatuck Valley Community College

https://web-s-ebscohost-com.nvcc.idm.oclc.org/ehost/resultsadvanced?vid=2&sid=f03c1d50-c448-455a-a923-a22b3b90d55a%40redis&bquery=stanford+prison+experiment&bdata=JmRiPXBzeWgmY2xpMD1GVCZjbHYwPVkmdHlwZT0xJnNlYXJjaE1vZGU9U3RhbmRhcmQmc2l0ZT1laG9zdC1saXZlJnNjb3BlPXNpdGU%3d