Shocking “prison” study 40 years later: What happened at Stanford?

It’s considered one of the most notorious psychology experiments ever conducted – and for good reason. The “Stanford prison experiment” – conducted in Palo Alto, Calif. 40 years ago – was conceived by Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo as a way to use ordinary college students to explore the often volatile dynamic that exists between prisoners and prison guards – and as a means of encouraging reforms in the way real-life prison guards are trained.

But what started out as make-believe quickly devolved into an all-too-real prison situation. Some student “guards” became sadistic overlords who eagerly abused the “prisoners,” many of whom began to see themselves as real prisoners.

Read the whole story: CBS News