Activities

1. Simulating group membership

Divide people who are going to watch episodes of The Experiment into two equal-sized groups.

When they watch it, ask one group to do so from the perspective of a Guard and the other to watch it from the perspective of a Prisoner.

At the end of every episode ask the viewers to complete psychometric tests of authoritarianism, depression, and stress, as if they were a member of the group to which they have been assigned.

Calculate scores for each measure and average them for each group.

Examine the differences (a) between the groups and (b) over time.

How do the results compare with the quantitative data actually obtained from the study?

2. Observing role behaviour

Observe both the Prisoners and Guards and see whether they automatically and immediately accept the roles they have been given. If not, why not?

As time goes by, note any examples where participants begin to act as group members and to see others not so much in terms of what they are like as individuals but more in terms of the groups they belong to.

Think about the factors that encourage participants to identify with the groups they were assigned to, and what factors discourage them from doing so.