Was it ethical to do the Stanford Prison Experiment? Was it right to trade the suffering experienced by participants for the knowledge gained by the research?

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was a landmark study in social psychology, partly due to the questions it raised regarding the treatment of human subjects in psychological research. For this discussion question you will go to the SPE official website at (right click on the link with your mouse and select “open in new tab” from the drop down list) http://www.prisonexp.org/psychology/1 and view the slide show (navigation arrows to scroll through the slides are at the bottom of the page).

There’s also a video (about 30 min) documenting the experiment, and then follows-up with some of the participants many years afterward: (right click on the link with your mouse and select “open in new tab” from the drop down list)

After viewing the slide show and the 30 minute documentary video about the Stanford Prison Experiment, answer the following questions: What was Dr. Zimbardo trying to learn from this experiment? Why was it conducted? Was it ethical to do the Stanford Prison Experiment? Was it right to trade the suffering experienced by participants for the knowledge gained by the research? (The experimenters did not take this issue lightly, although the Slide Show may sound somewhat matter-of-fact about the events and experiences that occurred). If you were the experimenter in charge, would you have done this study? Would you have terminated it earlier; if so, at what point would you have terminated it and why this point? Would you have conducted a follow-up study? Note: It might be helpful to review chapter 1 ( Experience Psychology second edition by Laura A. King)  in your textbook, “The Science of  Psychology,” as you write your response to the questions.