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The Conversation
The Conversation
Gina Perry, Science historian with a specific interest in the history of social psychology., The University of Melbourne

The infamous Stanford prison experiment was flawed – so why is it still so influential today?

'Guards' with a blindfolded 'prisoner'. PrisonExp.org

A new translation of a 2018 book by French science historian Thibault Le Texier challenges the claims of one of psychology’s most famous experiments.

Investigating the Stanford Prison Experiment: History of a Lie, published recently in English, documents serious limitations of the study – including that student “guards” were actually coached to dehumanise their “prisoners” – and asks how such a flawed experiment became so influential.

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