American History II students watched a video on the Stanford Prison Experiment and discussed how this experiment related to the book Animal Farm and we discussed how normal people can become evil.
EXTRA CREDIT: Discuss what you learned from this experiment. Also, how it relates to Animal Farm or human nature in general.
Stanford Prison Experiment: This relates to Animal Farm in many ways. This Project is about unexpected responses to power. When the animals rebel and get their power, it happened unexpectedly and changed them. In the project the kids assigned to be prisoners did not understand why other students, their equals, got more power. In animal farm, all the animals were supposed to be equal, but then some of them had explainable and unexpected more power. The students that were prisoners did the same as some of the animals in the book and tried to rebel, and when they did they got even worse treatment, just like in the book. In general, when someone has power, it changes them, and those who are under power get treated badly, and they have to either corroborate, or try and change it, which can make it worse. The way the students, and the animals reacted is how typical human behavior is especially when they are under the power of the authority. That is how it has always been and the experiment, and the book both prove this. C.B.
ReplyDeleteThe Stanford Prison Experiment relates to Animal Farm because the people given power began to abuse it. Those without power turn into mindless "animals". They do what is asked with minimal rebellion. The only people who rebel are those who have knowledge. The ones with power have nearly complete control and they can achieve complete control by breaking down the rebels. In Animal Farm the pigs got complete control by breaking down, or murdering the animals that did rebel and were given the control because of their knowledge. That is how it relates to Animal Farm, further proving that Power is Nearly Always Abused
ReplyDeleteKimberly Duram
Well this experiment had a lot to do with how people react to being treated badly. The experiment was planned for two weeks but was cut short in six days because the guards were showing signs of sadistic behavior and the prisoners were showing signs of depressions. This was an experiment to test the mind to see how the mind works. This can be related to the book Animal Farm because most animals were treated like the prisoners. They were starved and were forced to work manipulated by the pigs. If they were to revolt in the book they were killed if they were to revolt in the experiment they were punished even more. People can easily become consumed power. It takes control of them and usually the followers will be treated badly. A leader is essential but it is important that the followers don't allow the leader to have too much power that is why our government is so good because each part of the three branches all have a check on the others. This is called "checks and balances".
ReplyDeleteThe Stanford Prison Experiment began as a test for tests, because no one had ever conducted such an experiment before. Not only that, it shocked many by revealing just how corrupt any person can become, given a little power. Like in Animal Farm, the pigs began by simply wanting every animal to be free and equal. By the end of the book the pigs controlled everything and the slogan changed from: "All animals are equal", to "All animals are equal but some are more equal than others". Just like in Animal Farm the guards began with the intention of doing their job, but got swept into the power they held and became sadistic in their attempt to have complete control. Tori Gondeiro
ReplyDeleteThe stanford prison experiment, relates to animal farm in many ways. In the experiment, you see that when a group of people get power they soon start to abuse it. This is also seen in animal farm
ReplyDeletewith how the pigs soon start to put there power over the animals. in the experiment, the guards have billy clubs, to instal their fear, the pigs have dogs. You see the same affects on people in both also in the experiment the prisoners some how felt they had done something wrong and that is why the were in jail, in animal farm the animals feel like by dreaming of Snowball they have done something wrong and should be punished. These are some reason how animal farm and the Stanford Prison Experiment are the same. B.H
The Stanford Prison Experiment showed us how people react to seeing normal kids given more power then other students. Random students were picked to be prisoners and guards in this fake prison, then for a week they lived as if they were in a real prison. Some of the students cracked after just a few days, and some lasted the whole week. This experiment relates to animal farm by the feeling of equality. At the beginning all the animals started out the same, but the pigs became more powerful, just in the book the animals didn't see the difference in equality because they were animals and were not taught everything that the pigs were. Both of these stories symbolize how with the right kind of power anything can gain more control.
ReplyDeleteThe Stanford Prison Experiment was a revolutionary experiment showing what normal, everyday people are really capable of doing. When watching the video it struck me how far people can be pushed by a person in a position of "authority" in this case the so called guards. In the experiment people believed and did anything the guards told them simply because they had been told the guards were in charge. The results from this experiment show a striking resemblance to the control methods exhibited by the pigs in Animal Farm. The other animals were willing to do or believe anything for the pigs based only on the pigs telling them it should be so.
ReplyDeleteThe Stanford Prison experiment proved that everyday human people can become an evil person based on the situation. Anybody with any amount of integrity can become a person they never imagined to be do to a situation and time that undermines their own character. This experiment related to Animal Farm become in the novel the pig dictate and manipulate other animals. When the humans ran the farm they didn't have the power and control meaning they didn't play a dictator role. The guards in the prison experiment could have been someone who went to church every Sunday or ultimately was a well rounded person, but when they were placed in that powerful role where anything they say goes, all of their character and integrity was lost. Both of these situations are based on that fact that character can be lost to power.
ReplyDeleteIn this experiment, I learned how power affects the mind. You wouldn't think that playing a part could overrun your mind and make you forget who you really are. When you have ultimate power, then anyone who questions you is seen as a threat. Since you feel threatened you lash out with a punishment to show the others around you what it would mean to question their authority. In the experiment, the officers turned the prisoners against one of their own because they all were punished because of his bad behavior. In Animal Farm, any animal who questioned Napoleon's reign were viciously murdered to prove a point. If you question my power, you will die. That is how power can negatively affect the mind and make a person evil.
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