The Stanford Prison Experiment: Shady Science and Textbook Psychology

I am a social scientist. My research is interdisciplinary as I rely on the theories of psychology, communications, anthropology, and video games. To this end, I feel that I have a few thoughts that are related to the fall of the Stanford Prison Experiment.

I don’t think there is a psychology experiment that is more mainstream, more well-known, or more cited than the Stanford Prison Experiment. Well, maybe Bandura’s Bobo doll research. This study comes up all the time, and in my undergraduate and graduate classes it was discussed a lot. I think part of the reason this study was so universal is how it spoke anecdotally to some truth that all of us wanted to believe. Like an explanation of the Holocaust, we as students, scholars, and humans wanted to understand how people could be so cruel. And at the same time, we wanted to believe in the power of social structures, how class systems are enforced, and that science could prove stereotypes.

But it is also incredible how much of a lie this study was. How the researchers behind it could allow it to become so well-known, while not bringing to light the ethical holes in the research. While I wish I could say I’d be willing to replicate this study, I highly doubt I could get the funding or IRB approval to do so. Some studies in the social sciences seem to be untouchable, founded in truth, and unquestionably cited. However, I think this hero-worship of studies and experiments upends the truth of the social sciences: there are shades of truth, and not everything works according to plan.

Even discussing research with my “hard” science academics, they admit that in the lab there are so many variables that can interrupt and disrupt their findings. With research that should be obvious (like this drug does this, or that chemical is bad), sometimes things go wrong. And if that is the case, imagine what it is like working with human beings. When you are studying people, who are complex and filled with exceptions, it is nearly impossible to find resolute and absolute truths.

While I’m not saying social science research is garbage, or worthless, but that it should always be taken with a grain of salt. That all findings should be framed within the “sometimes” clause. Sometimes people do this, or sometimes this media does that to people.

To this end, I think that the shady science behind the Stanford Prison Experiment wasn’t really the problem. The problem was that we didn’t question its findings, we made it famous, and put it in every textbook we could find. So really the problem was with us.

Herbalism Skill Tree for DnD

Surprise, surprise. I thought I would sneak in a new blog post, one related to gaming and game studies. My brothers and I recently started a long-distance DnD adventure, which has been rather interesting since most of us have never played before. I recently proposed some house rules as an expansion to the very minimal description found in the game manuals and thought I would share these house rules online. Next post will be back to video games, I promise!

So I proposed a new ruleset for my proficiency with my herbalism kit. After scouring the internet, I’ve found that there is little to no guidance on what it means to use an herbalism kit or the skill of herbalism. I did find this link where another DM/GM created his own framework for herbcraft.

Building upon his framework, I tweak a few things: first off, I don’t really like the 24-hour limit. I know that it is set up to prevent the spamming of herbal items. But the Healer’s Kit tool is listed as having “ten uses,” which I then interpreted to mean ten slots. So much like a WoW pouch, I propose that the Herbalism Kit has slots that can be filled with herbal items, which increase depending upon the rarity of your pouch.

Next, I then added a couple more recipes for what I propose as “poisons,” which were inspired by all the “herbal supplements” of today (like energy drinks to name one), which are teas/tonics that will give you a temporary buff, in exchange for a hit to your HP. And then I also added a group-heal item, the incense.

Basically, each herbal item can be crafted based upon a recipe, with three levels to each (Minor, Moderate, Master). Each recipe can only be used when the herbalist has reached a certain level. Then, to craft the item you either can spend GP at a market, or spend time “foraging” for them, where you roll 1d20 and add your proficiency modifier to see if you are successful. This foraging takes an hour to complete, and the DC required to be successful changes depending upon the level of the herbs you are seeking (Min/Mod/Mas). Or if you are traveling, you can do it once per day while you are on the road. Once you have found the herbs you automatically create the herbal items and they are stored in your pouch until you use them.

Here is my spreadsheet that you can download.

Also, these numbers aren’t set in stone. Please give me feedback on how they can be improved/balanced, etc. And thanks for geeking out with me on a related gaming topic.