The Stanford Prison Experiment is a classic study that every psychology major hears about in their Psych 101 class. 

What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? These are some of the questions we posed in this dramatic simulation of prison life conducted in the summer of 1971 at Stanford University.

How we went about testing these questions and what we found may astound you. Our planned two-week investigation into the psychology of prison life had to be ended prematurely after only six days because of what the situation was doing to the college students who participated. In only a few days, our guards became sadistic and our prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress.

If you haven't heard of this study, I strongly urge you to visit The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment website and watch this video [via digg].

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