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Why do we keep learning about the debunked Stanford Prison Experiment, and what can this teach us about #SciComm? #SciCommSunday 1/9
Inspired by @yourewrongabout’s amazing podcast on The Stanford Prison Experiment – go listen, learn, and (as always) critically think about how they presented the story 2/9
Why it’s in textbooks #1: It’s a good story – humans like and remember narrative, and this one is a tantalizing look into the “dark side” of the human psyche 3/9
Why it’s in textbooks #2: The media picked it up 2 YEARS before the peer-reviewed journal was published – they weren’t doing #SciComm, they were amplifying hypothetical results 4/9
Why it’s in textbooks #3: We aren’t all taught to critically analyze methods – you hear a scientist label something as “science” and you go along with it. Phillip Zimbardo had major press releases, was an expert witness in trials, and we treated his “science” as science. 5/9
Lesson #1: Describe, explain, and emphasize the scientific process. At the heart of good #SciComm is a good explanation of how we made the discovery – teach your audience to look for and analyze methods #SciCommSunday 6/9
Lesson #2: Don’t design myth/fact #SciComm – people are more likely to remember the big, bolded myth than they are the smaller, true fact. Emphasize the truth first, then the myth and why people believe it. #SciCommSunday 7/9
Lesson #3: Use narrative for good. Tell a compelling story, like @yourewrongabout did, so that people remember and learn from the questionable ethics and biased methods #SciCommSunday 8/9
Lesson #4: Let’s talk generalizability. Especially with psych studies, compare the “lab environment” to the “real environment”. Talk about the differences and why you can’t say it will always be like that - artificial isn't always better than real settings #SciCommSunday 9/9
