Numerous psychological studies have been carried out before in the past to research the nature of humans, our internal conflicts and feelings as well as the effect different physcological factors have on society. It is almost overwhelming to think about how easy it is for us humans to alter the way we present ourselves to others as well as our beliefs, ethics and moralistic values. A perfect example of this is a physcological experiment administered by Phillip Zimbardo who randomly selected 24 undergraduate students at Stanford University to undergo possibly the most psychologically damaging experiment anyone could experience. The experiment was setup as a mock prison and the partakers had to act as prisoners and guards during the 2 week scheduled experiment. The prisoners were to stay in their cells for 24hrs and be constantly kept under surveillance of guards. The results of this experiment were shocking due to the guard's abusive behaviour in inflicting terrible acts upon the prisoners such as beating them, putting bags over their heads and humiliating them sexually etc. The prisoners were in such a horrific state of mind to the extent that the experiment had to be cut short to 6 days. This experiment emphasised how the sense of authority and power can reform a person's actions and almost desensitise them to moralistic values. Another highly fascinating experiment that disproves what some of us hold to be true is the fact that visualising success actually leads us to failure. The belief that setting goals and being able to visualise them can often motivate us to achieve our ambitions should be disregarded as 4 experiments have disproven this theoory.The experiments showcased that conjuring positive fantasies of success drains the energy out of ambition therefore making it much less likely for us to achieve our goals. This may be a complete shock to most of us as we imagine our success as a way to achieve our goals. Overall it's fascinating to explore the curious nature of the brain and how different surroundings stimulate our mind and modify our behaviour.
