Psychology Assignment: Ethical Issues in Stanford and Milgram Studies

This report critically analyzes the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Milgram Experiment, focusing on ethical issues, research methodologies, and participant treatment. The Stanford Prison Experiment's ethical concerns include lack of informed consent and potential psychological harm to participants. The Milgram Experiment's ethical challenges involve deception, potential psychological distress, and the experimenter's influence. The report highlights the criticisms, situational features, and implications of these studies, along with the references from the assignment brief. The analysis encompasses the potential for psychological harm, the role of deception, and the impact of the experiments on the field of psychology. The document explores the ethical considerations surrounding the experiments, the researchers' approaches, and the overall influence of the studies.

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
PSYCHOLOGY
Name of the Student:
Name of University:
Author Note:

1PSYCHOLOGY
Unit 9
Stanford Experiment:
1. The Stanford received many criticisms and it lacked of a fully informed consent for the
participants as because Zimbardo himself lacked the insight about what was going to happen in
the later part of the experiment. The Prisoners also did not provide any consent regarding being
arrested at the ‘home’. This was not told to the participants because the final approval was not
approved from the police and until the minutes before which the participants agreed to
participate the study. Furthermore, the researchers wanted the arrest to look like a surprise
(Griggs 2014).
2. From the identified flaws or loops in the study, the ethical guidelines were breached and it has
affected the scientific validity. However, it is important to note that the participants that played
the role of the prisoner were actually not given any protection from any kind of psychological
harm. The study was based on the distress, humiliation and related incidents. For example, one
of the prisoner was released after 36 hours because of uncontrolled screaming, anger and crying.
Furthermore, Zimbardo also highlighted that the emotional distress cannot be predicted from the
beginning (Griggs 2014).
Stanford Experiment part 2:
1. From the experiment it can be concluded that the participants weren’t aware that will be
administered shocks. The shocks were mild in nature and they were not of the same magnitude
that was depicted or marked on the machines. Secondly, the shocks were fake in nature and the
person that were assessing the situation knew about the amount of shock given to the participants
(Burger 2014).

2PSYCHOLOGY
2. In the experiment, Milgram provided the chance to withdraw and the along with it the
experimenter gave the four different verbal options that highly discouraged the withdrawal from
the experiment. There were verbal communications like “please continue”, “the experiment
needs to that you must continue”, “it is an absolute need that you must continue”, “you have no
other option and must continue”. Thus, it can be said that the before proceeding with the
experiment, the experimenter took prior permission (Burger 2014).
3. The ethical issues like the deception, the lack of protection of the participants. The participants
actually felt that they were shocking a real participant and was unaware of the fact that they
learners were actually the confederate of Milgram. Secondly, the participants were exposed to
extreme stressful situations (Burger 2014).

3PSYCHOLOGY
Reference
Burger, J.M., 2014. Situational features in Milgram's experiment that kept his participants
shocking. Journal of Social Issues, 70(3), pp.489-500.
Griggs, R.A., 2014. Coverage of the Stanford Prison Experiment in introductory psychology
textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 41(3), pp.195-203.