Milgram and Zimbardo Experiments
Milgram and Zimbardo ExperimentsTo start, both of these experiments are quite disturbing and yet interesting as to how people react or act in situations if given the opportunity. I actually looked up the Milgram and the Zimbardo experiments. I watched videos of both actually. I think Milgram wanted to prove that the prison guards, doctors, etc..., did not necessarily think that they were to blame for the atrocities that occurred in concentration camps, but were in their minds “just following orders”. In his experiments people issued shocks to others in increasing intervals of strength without any concern for the pain being inflicted. They were just following orders. Zimbardo turned a Stanford University Basement into a prison with half the participants as guards and the other half as inmates. The level of cruelty that the “guards” sank to is truly amazing. Both sides of the experiment literally assimilated to the roles given. It is my belief that the subjects in these experiments used the position of following orders or authority to let the ID free and do things they would never consider in normal society with rules and laws. In Milgram’s study the ones issuing the shocks probably did enjoy or get pleasure from what they were doing. Literally they let the “order” to shock someone give them pleasure. It would be interesting to know if any of the “shockers” had become sexually excited during this experiment. Zimbardo’s experiment really shows how the ego was affected by the experiment. Guards became abusive and all powerful while the inmates sank into depression and unruliness. The Egos of the guards where boosted to new heights while those of the convicts were ground to nothing. The solidarity of the convicts and the uprisings of them were the egos actually trying to reassert themselves. What amazes me is how quickly this happened, as the study only lasted four days instead of the original one to two weeks as originally intended.
Tartakovsky, M. (2011). Stanley Milgram &...