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