Stanford prison experiment - Quiz
Stanford prison experiment
  • 1. When was the set up for the Stanford prison experiment conducted?
A) Tuesday, August 17
B) Saturday, August 14
C) Monday, August 16
D) Sunday, August 15
  • 2. What did participants assigned to the guard role attend on August 14?
A) A training session on psychological warfare
B) A mock arrest by the local police
C) A full booking procedure at the police headquarters
D) An orientation where they were briefed and given uniforms
  • 3. When did Day 1 of the experiment take place?
A) Saturday, August 14
B) Sunday, August 15
C) Tuesday, August 17
D) Monday, August 16
  • 4. Who mock-arrested the participants assigned a prisoner role?
A) San Francisco television reporters
B) The local Palo Alto police
C) The experiment warden
D) Zimbardo's research team
  • 5. Were the prisoner participants informed in advance that they would be arrested?
A) No, they were intentionally not informed
B) Yes, it was written in their contract
C) Yes, they were notified a week prior
D) Yes, they planned the arrests with the police
  • 6. Whose ethics contract was breached by surprising the prisoners with arrests?
A) Zimbardo's own contract
B) The Palo Alto police department's contract
C) The San Francisco television station contract
D) The university ethics board contract
  • 7. What penal codes were the prisoners charged with during the mock arrest?
A) Penal Codes 311 and 549
B) Penal Codes 411 and 659
C) Penal Codes 211 and 459
D) Penal Codes 100 and 200
  • 8. What specific crimes did Penal Codes 211 and 459 represent?
A) Armed robbery and burglary
B) Grand theft and trespassing
C) Vandalism and disturbing the peace
D) Assault and battery
  • 9. Where were full booking procedures performed on the prisoners?
A) The university psychology building
B) A San Francisco television studio
C) The Stanford County Jail mock prison
D) Palo Alto City police headquarters
  • 10. What did booking procedures at the police headquarters include?
A) Medical examinations and psychological evaluations
B) Signing the ethics contract and receiving rules
C) Warning of Miranda rights, fingerprinting, and taking of mug shots
D) Strip searching, issuing uniforms, and assigning numbers
  • 11. Who video-documented the mock arrests using Zimbardo's car?
A) A local San Francisco television station reporter
B) A Palo Alto police officer
C) A Stanford University researcher
D) One of the back-up guards
  • 12. How many guards prepared for the arrival of the inmates initially?
A) Two guards
B) Three guards
C) Six guards
D) Four guards
  • 13. How were the prisoners transported to the mock prison?
A) Walking in handcuffs with the reporter
B) In a private van silently
C) In police cars with sirens wailing
D) In Zimbardo's car
  • 14. What was the name of the mock prison?
A) Zimbardo Penitentiary
B) Stanford Correctional Facility
C) Palo Alto City Jail
D) Stanford County Jail
  • 15. What happened to the prisoners immediately upon arrival at the mock prison?
A) They were systematically strip searched
B) They were given a hot meal
C) They were given comfortable beds
D) They were allowed to make a phone call
  • 16. What new identities were the prisoners given at the mock prison?
A) Fake criminal aliases
B) New legal names
C) Inmate identification numbers
D) Rank titles
  • 17. What did the prisoners wear?
A) Uncomfortable, ill-fitting smocks without underwear, stocking caps, and an ankle chain
B) Striped prisoner uniforms with heavy boots
C) Regular street clothes with identification tags
D) Standard orange jumpsuits with belts and shoes
  • 18. Where were the prisoners' identification numbers sewn?
A) On their ankle chains
B) On their smocks' sleeves only
C) On their uniforms
D) On their stocking caps
  • 19. Why were guards instructed to call prisoners by their assigned numbers instead of their names?
A) To maintain military discipline
B) Because the guards forgot their real names
C) To protect prisoner privacy
D) To dehumanize prisoners
  • 20. Who greeted the prisoners and conveyed the seriousness of their offense?
A) Zimbardo
B) The lead guard
C) The warden
D) The police chief
  • 21. When did Day 2 of the experiment take place?
A) Saturday, August 14
B) Monday, August 16
C) Tuesday, August 17
D) Sunday, August 15
  • 22. What time did the prisoners rebel against the guards' wake-up calls on Day 2?
A) 8:30 am
B) 2:30 am
C) 6:00 am
D) 12:00 am
  • 23. What sounds constituted the guards' wake-up calls on Day 2?
A) Sirens wailing and shouting
B) Bells ringing and loudspeaker orders
C) Stamping feet and clapping
D) Whistles and clanging of batons
  • 24. What did prisoners refuse to do during the rebellion on Day 2?
A) Answer to their identification numbers
B) Use the bucket in their cells
C) Wear their stocking caps and smocks
D) Leave their cells to eat in the yard
  • 25. What actions did prisoners take against their uniforms during the rebellion?
A) Swapped uniforms with each other
B) Tore their smocks into pieces and threw away ankle chains
C) Ripped off their inmate number tags and took off stocking caps
D) Wrote insults on their identification numbers
  • 26. How did guards respond to the prisoner rebellion on Day 2?
A) Called the Palo Alto police back
B) Released the main instigators immediately
C) Sprayed fire extinguishers at the prisoners
D) Locked everyone in the yard without food
  • 27. How many back-up guards were called in to help regain control?
A) Two back-up guards
B) Three back-up guards
C) Five back-up guards
D) Four back-up guards
  • 28. What punitive actions did guards take after regaining control on Day 2?
A) Removed all clothes and mattresses, and sent main instigators to the special detention unit
B) Extended their sentences by another day
C) Permanently expelled the main instigators from the experiment
D) Beat the prisoners with batons and denied water
  • 29. What method did guards use to attempt to dissuade further rebellion?
A) Physical labor
B) Starvation diets
C) Solitary confinement for all inmates
D) Psychological warfare
  • 30. What did one guard say to another about the prisoners after the rebellion?
A) "We should call off the experiment"
B) "These are dangerous prisoners"
C) "They deserve more food and better beds"
D) "They will never learn their lesson"
  • 31. When did Day 3 of the experiment take place?
A) Wednesday, August 18
B) Sunday, August 15
C) Monday, August 16
D) Tuesday, August 17
  • 32. How did guards restrict further acts of disobedience on Day 3?
A) Separated and rewarded prisoners who had minor roles in the rebellion
B) Banned all communication between cells
C) Put all prisoners in the special detention unit
D) Increased the severity of the physical punishments
  • 33. Where did the rewarded prisoners spend time on Day 3?
A) In the "good" cell
B) In the warden's office
C) In the police headquarters
D) In the prison yard
  • 34. What did prisoners in the "good" cell receive that was denied to the rest?
A) Books and writing materials
B) Clothing, beds, and food
C) Early release and money
D) Unsupervised visiting hours
  • 35. How long did the rewarded prisoners stay in the "good" cell?
A) An estimated 12 hours
B) The entire duration of the experiment
C) 24 hours
D) 6 hours
  • 36. Where did the rewarded prisoners go after leaving the "good" cell?
A) To the special detention unit
B) Back to the police station
C) Home because they were released
D) To their old cells that lacked beds
  • 37. What were guards allowed to abuse to humiliate inmates on Day 3?
A) The visiting schedule
B) Their power
C) Their authority over the police
D) The equipment in the mock prison
  • 38. What arbitrary physical tasks did guards force prisoners to do on Day 3?
A) Clean the entire police station
B) Run around the cell block
C) Count off and do pushups
D) Scrub the walls with toothbrushes
  • 39. What facility access was restricted by guards on Day 3?
A) Access to the bathrooms
B) Access to the dining hall
C) Access to the prison yard
D) Access to the telephone
  • 40. Where were prisoners forced to relieve themselves when bathroom access was restricted?
A) Out the windows of the cells
B) In the hallway
C) In a bucket in their cells
D) In the special detention unit
  • 41. What role did Philip Zimbardo assume in the Stanford prison experiment?
A) Warden
B) Guard
C) Superintendent
D) Prisoner
  • 42. When were digitized recordings from the experiment widely discussed?
A) 2020
B) 2010
C) 2017
D) 2015
  • 43. What did warden David Jaffe try to encourage a guard to be for the benefit of the experiment?
A) Lenient
B) Friendly
C) Tough
D) Silent
  • 44. When was the orientation session held for the guards?
A) After the first day of the experiment
B) The day before the experiment began
C) The morning the experiment started
D) One week before the experiment
  • 45. What accessories were given to the guards to prevent eye contact and create anonymity?
A) Mirrored sunglasses
B) Plastic face shields
C) Ski masks
D) Black hoods
  • 46. What can real-life guards face if they fail to participate fully in prison and military settings?
A) Transfer to maximum security
B) Disciplinary hearings, demotion, or dismissal
C) Mandatory psychological evaluation
D) Immediate physical punishment
  • 47. How many men applied for the study?
A) 100
B) 24
C) 75
D) 50
  • 48. How many participants were ultimately selected for the simulation?
A) 12
B) 24
C) 75
D) 30
  • 49. What was the adjusted equivalent of $15 in 2026?
A) Roughly $75.25
B) Roughly $210.00
C) Roughly $50.00
D) Roughly $126.50
  • 50. What area served as the prison yard?
A) The main campus quad
B) A rooftop terrace
C) A large outdoor courtyard
D) A small corridor
  • 51. What was used as a closet for solitary confinement?
A) A windowless basement vault
B) A closet
C) A wooden crate
D) A bathroom stall
  • 52. What was the lighting condition inside each cell?
A) Brightly illuminated
B) Naturally lit by windows
C) Flickering fluorescent lights
D) Unlit
  • 53. How long were the shifts that the guards were told to work?
A) Four-hour shifts
B) Eight-hour shifts
C) Twelve-hour shifts
D) Twenty-four-hour shifts
  • 54. Which journal did David Amodio claim was an 'obscure journal'?
A) Naval Research Reviews
B) International Journal of Criminology and Penology
C) American Psychologist
D) New York Times Magazine
  • 55. According to the text, what tradition did Zimbardo violate by publishing in non-peer-reviewed outlets first?
A) Academic tenure guidelines
B) Anonymous peer review
C) Journal exclusivity policies
D) Scientific dissemination
  • 56. Which journal is described as the official journal of the American Psychological Association?
A) New York Times Magazine
B) Naval Research Reviews
C) American Psychologist
D) International Journal of Criminology and Penology
  • 57. What type of requirements did the American Psychologist have that the article still needed to pass?
A) Public popularity metrics
B) Lenient preliminary guidelines
C) Mandatory naval clearance
D) Very strict requirements
  • 58. What demographic of people were recruited as participants?
A) Prison inmates
B) Female college students
C) Male college students
D) Military veterans
  • 59. How many participants were chosen for the experiment?
A) Fifty
B) Twenty-four
C) Twelve
D) Ten
  • 60. How were participants assigned to their roles?
A) By physical strength
B) Randomly
C) By psychological stability
D) By personal preference
  • 61. Who confronted Zimbardo after evaluating the conditions of the experiment?
A) The Office of Naval Research director
B) Christina Maslach
C) Philip Zimbardo's spouse
D) Thibault Le Texier
  • 62. Who asserted that Zimbardo asked guards to behave in certain ways to confirm his conclusions?
A) Thibault Le Texier
B) The Stanford News Service
C) Christina Maslach
D) Philip Zimbardo
  • 63. What effect might have influenced participants by knowing they were watched during the Stanford prison experiment?
A) Bystander effect
B) Placebo effect
C) Halo effect
D) Hawthorne effect
  • 64. Which psychologist criticized the SPE in 2012 for demand characteristics where participants acted out stereotyped views?
A) Ali Banuazizi
B) Rutger Bregman
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Peter Gray
  • 65. What type of bias did Carnahan and McFarland claim the SPE suffered from due to advertising a study about prison life?
A) Selection bias
B) Reporting bias
C) Confirmation bias
D) Attrition bias
  • 66. According to Carnahan and McFarland, applicants to the SPE likely already possessed traits associated with what personality dimension?
A) High altruism
B) Introversion
C) Authoritarianism
D) High dispositional empathy
  • 67. What is the title of the 2018 book by Thibault Le Texier questioning the scientific validity of the SPE?
A) Humankind: A Hopeful History
B) Histoire d'un mensonge
C) The Stanford Prison Study
D) The Lucifer Effect
  • 68. In what year did Thibault Le Texier publish an article discussing his critiques of the SPE with the American Psychological Association?
A) 1975
B) 2007
C) 2019
D) 2020
  • 69. How did Zimbardo and colleagues characterize Le Texier's critiques?
A) Mostly ad hominem
B) Entirely accurate
C) Brilliant and objective
D) Helpful and unbiased
  • 70. Which Dutch historian claimed the experiment was suspect in his 2020 book?
A) Ali Banuazizi
B) Rutger Bregman
C) Thibault Le Texier
D) Siamak Movahedi
  • 71. What is the title of Rutger Bregman's 2020 book that suggests guards were urged to act aggressively?
A) Histoire d'un mensonge
B) The Lucifer Effect
C) Humankind: A Hopeful History
D) The Stanford Prison Experiment
  • 72. Which participant guard acknowledged that his theater background lent itself well to his role?
A) Thomas Carnahan
B) Thibault Le Texier
C) David Eshelman
D) Siamak Movahedi
  • 73. What specific act did David Eshelman instruct prisoners to simulate on one shift?
A) Sodomy
B) An escape attempt
C) A hunger strike
D) A physical fight
  • 74. What real-world prison abuses did Zimbardo compare the participant guards' behaviors to?
A) Alcatraz
B) San Quentin
C) Abu Ghraib
D) Guantanamo Bay
  • 75. What did the BBC prison study indicate was important in the emergence of tyranny?
A) Selection bias
B) Isolation
C) Direction
D) Sleep deprivation
  • 76. Banuazizi and Movahedi stated there is no single definition for what type of behavior?
A) Guard behavior
B) Researcher behavior
C) Prisoner behavior
D) Observer behavior
  • 77. In what year was Carlo Prescott's article published in The Stanford Daily?
A) 2010
B) 2005
C) 1971
D) 1995
  • 78. Who did Zimbardo believe actually wrote the article attributed to Prescott?
A) Brett Emory
B) Carlo Prescott
C) Michael Lazarou
D) An anonymous student
  • 79. Who obtained telephone records and emails regarding the authorship of the article?
A) Philip Zimbardo
B) Michael Lazarou
C) Brett Emory
D) Carlo Prescott
  • 80. What is Brett Emory's role related to the SPE?
A) The Stanford Daily editor
B) Lead researcher
C) Prison consultant
D) SPE movie's producer
  • 81. Who was the first prisoner to leave the experiment?
A) Christina Maslach
B) Gordon H. Bower
C) Craig Haney
D) Douglas Korpi
  • 82. What was Douglas Korpi's prisoner number?
A) 8912
B) 8126
C) 8612
D) 819
  • 83. What did Douglas Korpi yell during his breakdown?
A) I want to speak to a medical doctor
B) Jesus Christ, I'm burning up inside
C) Why are you treating me this way?
D) Let me out of this cage right now
  • 84. Who released Douglas Korpi after seeing his suffering?
A) Gordon H. Bower
B) Curtis Banks
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Craig Haney
  • 85. In what year was the documentary movie 'Quiet Rage' released?
A) 2017
B) 1971
C) 2018
D) 1992
  • 86. What exam was Korpi trying to return home to study for?
A) Graduate Management Admission Test
B) Medical College Admission Test
C) Law School Admission Test
D) Graduate Record Exam
  • 87. When did Zimbardo respond to Korpi's 2017 interview claims?
A) 2017
B) 2019
C) 1992
D) 2018
  • 88. How did Zimbardo claim he had to treat Korpi's breakdown during the study?
A) As a minor theatrical act
B) As real
C) As a fake attempt to study
D) As a disciplinary infraction
  • 89. How did rioters view other prisoners on Day 4?
A) As allies
B) As leaders
C) As victims
D) As snitches
  • 90. What was the prisoner number of the inmate who cried in his cell and refused to talk to a priest?
A) 8612
B) 8911
C) 819
D) 8129
  • 91. Who was brought in to speak with Prisoner 819 when he showed distress?
A) A medical doctor
B) A psychologist
C) A priest
D) A lawyer
  • 92. Who did Prisoner 819 ask to speak with instead of the priest?
A) Philip Zimbardo
B) A guard
C) A medical doctor
D) His parents
  • 93. What phrase did the guards cajoled remaining inmates to loudly decry about Prisoner 819?
A) 819 is a total snitch
B) 819 did a bad thing
C) 819 wants his clothes back
D) 819 is faking his breakdown
  • 94. What did Zimbardo give Prisoner 819 upon his release?
A) His pay
B) His personal clothes
C) A medical prescription
D) A written apology
  • 95. Who watched the visitors during the ten-minute visitations?
A) A priest
B) A guard
C) Philip Zimbardo
D) Gordon H. Bower
  • 96. Who arrived on Day 5 to check on the experiment and question Zimbardo about the independent variable?
A) Gordon H. Bower
B) Curtis Banks
C) Craig Haney
D) Christina Maslach
  • 97. Who was Curtis Banks in the context of the text?
A) A visitor parent
B) A prison psychologist
C) A researcher
D) A consulting priest
  • 98. Whose objections contributed to ending the experiment alongside the parents' concerns and guard brutality?
A) Haney's
B) Maslach's
C) Dimsdale's
D) Banks's
  • 99. Who ended the study?
A) Dimsdale
B) Banks
C) Haney
D) Zimbardo
  • 100. For how many days were the participants paid?
A) Six days
B) Seven days
C) Fourteen days
D) Five days
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