Final answer:
In the Stanford Prison Experiment, the situation backfired when participants took on their assigned roles of 'guards' and 'prisoners' too well, leading to excessive abuse and psychological distress. This resulted in the early termination of the study due to ethical concerns and highlights the importance of ethics in psychological research.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the Stanford Prison Experiment, locking up participants in a mock prison environment backfired dramatically. What began as an academic inquiry into the psychological effects of perceived power in a prison setting turned into an ethically questionable situation.
The 'guards,' empowered by their roles, abused their power and became increasingly sadistic in their treatment of the 'prisoners,' who in turn exhibited signs of severe distress and hopelessness. The 'prisoners' being forced to endure such abuse without recourse experienced negative psychological consequences. This included stripping them of their identities and subjecting them to harsh conditions, which could include the removal of their mattresses or solitary confinement. These conditions aimed to simulate the depersonalization and dehumanization that can occur in actual prison environments, but they went beyond what was ethical or expected in an academic study.
This loss of control and abusive environment created by the 'guards' led to the premature termination of the experiment, as it raised significant ethical concerns and caused harm to participants. It demonstrated the powerful influence that a given role and environment can have on individual behavior and how quickly such influence can lead to negative and harmful actions.
The experiment's outcome provided a stark lesson on the potential for power to corrupt and the importance of oversight and ethical considerations when designing and conducting psychological research.