About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about the Haney et al. (1973) prison simulation study, focusing in particular on: (i) this study being more commonly known as the Zimbardo, or Stanford, Prison Experiment; (ii) the participant recruitment strategy as a vague post asking male volunteers to sign up; (iii) the role that the distinct guard and prisoner uniforms played in ensuring ecological validity of the study; (iv) the extreme emotional impacts on participants, resulting in both attrition and early termination of the experiment; (v) the strengths and weaknesses of the experiment.

About the lecturer

Professor Ciarán O’Keeffe is associate professor of education and research and head of the School of Human and Social Sciences at Buckinghamshire New University. Professor O’Keeffe’s research interests include investigative psychology and parapsychology, and has made numerous television and radio appearances alongside an array of celebrities. Some of Professor O’Keeffe’s recent publications include 'Things That Go Bump In The Literature: An Environmental Appraisal of 'Haunted Houses'' (2020) and 'Restorative Justice and Recidivism: Investigating the impact of victim-preference for level of engagement' (2014).