The Human Zoo

[first lines preceding the opening credits]

Narrator:
Would you lie, if you thought you could get away with it?

[first lines]

Narrator:
In a life-time, we encounter thousands of people, and whether we know it or not, we judge them instantly. Every waking minute, we are interpreting the detail of human behavior: a glance, a gesture, a smile. We're all amateur psychologists. We have to be. Psychologists say much of what we do as individuals is designed to influence what others think of us. But how important are first impressions?

Narrator:
And how far are people prepared to go to make the right impression?

Narrator:
We're all individuals, but according to psychologists, under the right conditions, our actions can be very predictable. To show just how predictable we can be required the creation of a special laboratory where people could be observed under controlled conditions: a Human Zoo.

Narrator:
One hundred-fifty people responded to ads requesting volunteers to participate in a serious psychological experiment. They represented a cross-section of different nationalities, ages, occupations, and personality types. The volunteers were whittled down to these twelve. They were told they were being filmed for a psychological experiment, but they didn't know what the tests would be. They didn't know they'd be living in this isolated house, and they didn't know that nearly every room in the house would be observed by hidden cameras.

Narrator:
Phil Zimbardo of Stanford University is the world's leading expert in ground-breaking psychology experiments. Dr. Mark McDermott is one of Britain's top social psychologists.

Philip Zimbardo:
We're interested in things like cooperation and competition. We're interested in group dynamics, how leaders emerge, how rules can come to control people. Uh, we're interested as much in, uh, the phenomena of dictatorships as we are in democracy. But really, what we learned from this, is what people *say* they would do is often a far cry from what they actually do when put in the crucible of human behavior. And that's really what counts: is understanding what people actually do, not what they imagine they would do.

[Amit pulls a chair up between Kathryn and George, who have already established a friendship]

Narrator:
Just by choosing where to sit, Amit substantially increases his chances of making a good impression.

Philip Zimbardo:
In a situation that seems as innocuous as walking into a room where there are other people...

Mark McDermott:
[encouraging] Hm.

Philip Zimbardo:
...you know, where you choose to sit, uh, has a big impact on how comfortable you will then feel. If you're right in the center, where conversation has to be directed towards you...

Mark McDermott:
[encouraging] Mm-hm.

Philip Zimbardo:
...then you're never gonna be on the outside.

Narrator:
And in seconds, Amit is already at the heart of the group.

Narrator:
And if you can create a favorable impression, you can create advantages for yourself. You're more likely to get what you want, whether it's a job or a favor. Or it might be the control you have over the people around you.

[Zimbardo and McDermott are watching the next test subject enter the Human Zoo house, via hidden camera]

Philip Zimbardo:
So in comes Thomas, handsome young man, he picks up the chair, moves it around, so already it's a very assertive act, and now he continues! He shakes hands with everybody, introduces himself, gets their names.

Mark McDermott:
Mm. Gets *everybody*'s names.

Philip Zimbardo:
So look at the advantage that he has created for himself. He now knows everybody's name; people see him as assertive - and so, immediately, if, if you stopped the Group and said, "Okay, who are we gonna reject and who are we gonna keep?" Thomas would be, you know, "Yeah, we want him in our group."

Narrator:
Psychologists estimate that we take one hundred-fifty milliseconds to decide whether someone's attractive.

[a man is eating in a public diner when Charlie Skelton sits down right next to him and begins to look over the pages that Sandwich-Eating Man is studying]

Charlie Skelton:
Is this Number 3? "The examination should be carried out in adequate and natural or artificial light."

[Charlie begins to lift the page to see the next]

Sandwich-Eating Man:
[stops him] Come on.

Sandwich-Eating Man:
[the scene cuts to the Sandwich-Eating Man being interviewed afterwards by the film-makers; he is bemused, amused, and defensively put out] I was sat down with my lunch and readin' my correspondence course, and this idiot come and sat down and started lookin' at me.

[the scene cuts back to the diner, where Charlie is annoying the man trying to eat his sandwhich and study]

Sandwich-Eating Man:
I said, do you have a problem?

Charlie Skelton:
Not a problem! I was having a quick read! It's boring here. Really, I can't afford a paper.

Sandwich-Eating Man:
What are you doing that for?

Charlie Skelton:
Just having a quick read. It looks interesting. I don't know much about lifting machines.

Sandwich-Eating Man:
[the scene jumps forward again to the Sandwich-Eating Man being interviewed afterwards by the film-makers] I just thought he'd escaped from somewhere. [chuckles]

Sandwich-Eating Man:
[Back in the dinery] Why don't you just clear off?

Charlie Skelton:
Do you mind if I check number 7, point 7?

Sandwich-Eating Man:
Clear off, please.

Charlie Skelton:
All I want to do is check point 7, and then I can, I'll have a total overview of cleaning lifting machines.

Sandwich-Eating Man:
[pulls his papers out of Charlie's reach] Will you please clear off?

Charlie Skelton:
Suit yourself. Here, look, have a biscuit.

Narrator:
There are unwritten rules on how to behave when meeting or approaching a stranger for the first time.

[Charlie has seated himself at the table of a man in the same cafeteria. He reaches and takes a sip from Angry Man's cup of tea, who immediately leans over and grabs it back]

Charlie Skelton:
I was just having a little, a little sip. I have a bit of a dry throat.

Narrator:
Break one of these rules, and you've got a problem. Break two, and you're heading for trouble.

[Angry Man shakes his head in disbelief, then reaches forward again as Charlie dunks his biscuit into the tea-cup]

Angry Tea-Drinking Man:
Do you want to thin out, or do you want me to throw you out?

Charlie Skelton:
Sorry?

Angry Tea-Drinking Man:
You 'eard.

Charlie Skelton:
Just having a little dunk of biscuit.

Angry Tea-Drinking Man:
[points his finger toward the exit] D'you mind disappearing? Or do I go and get somebody to make you disappear?

Charlie Skelton:
Look, you've obviously come up, got out of the wrong side of bed.

Angry Tea-Drinking Man:
[standing in a threatening manner] No, I 'aven't got out of the wrong side of bed at all. Do you mind stopping? [Grabs Charlie's notebook and thrusts it at him] Now, whatever this is, take it and disappear.

Charlie Skelton:
[faux-innocently] I'll leave you the biscuits, okay?

Charlie Skelton:
No, I don't want the biscuits. No.

Charlie Skelton:
Here, take that one. Look, I've dunked it already, so you might as well have it. Here, have it.

[the Angry Man pushes Charlie's arm away, then grabs him and marches him offscreen]

Narrator:
Charlie broke the rules on purpose to prove how dramatic the consequences can be.

Narrator:
Our attention is drawn to George, who's fast becoming somewhat of a favorite among group members. Richard isn't; and George is winding him up.

[Interview with Richard after the three days at the Human Zoo are over]

Richard:
I thought, aw God, I'm never gonna get on with this guy, he's gonna drive me 'round the bend about, you know, his bloody make-up and probably goin' off to the toilet every five minutes, as women do.

[Cut to interview with George after the three days at the Human Zoo are over]

George:
[shaking his head and laughing] I had absolutely no idea of what Richard thought of me. He's told me - since - what he thought of me.

Richard:
I wasn't gonna let him know that, you know, he was irritatin' me in the first instants.

Narrator:
Inside, hidden cameras are still rolling, and Richard's attitude toward George is hardening.

[In the dining room:
speech is given in captions, since the sound is unclear]

Richard:
What are they gonna do? They're gonna film, they're gonna film a lot of George, aren't they?

[an offscreen group member says, "Yeah."]

Richard:
'Cos he's a f*cking tart, let's face it.

[George enters and looks at something offscreen, probably the menu of available items]

George:
[with disappointment, but affably to Richard] Fabulous.

Richard:
Tea or coffee?

[Cut to the living room/general area]

Richard:
[maliciously] George has got his make-up, so we can always borrow off of George.

Narrator:
Richard appears to have started a whispering campaign against George.

Richard:
[clapping his hands and mocking George] I'm mincing. I'm mincing in and out.

[the few other group members in the room laugh]

Richard:
He'll end up with a **** thump.

Narrator:
Still the outsider, he's now trying to recruit allies.

Philip Zimbardo:
George comes in and he can sit anywhere, and he sits right next to Richard. So, maybe at some level he's, he's pushing the envelope, he's, you know, he's forcing Richard to deal with him.

Narrator:
It's the evening of Day One of the Human Zoo experiment.

[Footage of Richard trying to get attention from the others]

Narrator:
Just as they're about to call it a day, Richard goes on the prowl.

[the hidden camera shows Richard sneaking into the window of the facility's shop, as Caroline stands watch, grinning]

Richard:
Sshh.

Philip Zimbardo:
What's happening?

Mark McDermott:
I thought the shop was closed.

Philip Zimbardo:
The shop *is* closed, and it looks like they're breaking into the shop.

Narrator:
This is the moment that addresses Dr. Zimbardo's question about how Richard would respond to feeling left outside the group: What would he do to overcome a bad first impression?

Richard:
[reaching into the refrigerator as Caroline and Sharon watch] Hang on, hang on, hang on.... Where, um... How many people want beers?

Narrator:
An older man trying to ingratiate himself with a younger crowd.

[Richard sneaks out the window and closes the window door]

Philip Zimbardo:
He's, he's closing it up so that we won't know that he's just stolen ...

Mark McDermott:
About ten cans! I don't know how he thinks that those are not going to be missed. But, but he's done it. He obviously doesn't think he's being observed.

[the scientists watch in fascination as Richard returns to the shop to steal more goods and pass them to the group members]

Philip Zimbardo:
[in amusement] Oh, now he's taking orders!

Mark McDermott:
Yeah, yeah, "What would you like over there?"

Philip Zimbardo:
"Rum and Coke, and, and -?"

Mark McDermott:
Sure, yeah. "A packet of crisps?"

Mark McDermott:
End of Day One. They've only been here for six hours. What's gonna -

Philip Zimbardo:
And we already have vandals and thieves and rogues.

Mark McDermott:
Yeah, yeah! What will happen tomorrow?

Richard:
[offscreen] Who wants a beer?

[Footage and chatter of some group members enjoying their stolen food and drink in a dark room]

Philip Zimbardo:
And I think he's now demonstrating to the others that he is assertive, he is dominant, he's someone that you have to take seriously, because what's he doing is challenging this whole institution, breaking, you know, really a fundamental rule. "I'm gonna go in and I'm gonna steal from the people who set this up." So, yeah, I'm really eager to see what's gonna happen tomorrow. Well, it's a good start.

Mark McDermott:
Yeah.

Philip Zimbardo:
We are, we are on our way.

[first lines]

Narrator:
In the army, you'd expect to obey orders. These soldiers are marching in formation because they've been told to. But unlike these soldiers, civilians are rarely given orders. We're free to make our own choices. Or are we?

Narrator:
Jane Elliott is an ex-schoolteacher who now runs workshops on racism. What they're really about, though, is about how tempting power can be and about how tempting it can be to abuse it.

Jane Elliott:
When I do this workshop, I see the worst of people. I see their willingness to go along to get along. And I also see people who enjoy being on the top.

[first lines]

Narrator:
Would you ignore a woman collapsed in the street? Would you stay in a burning building just because everyone else does? Would you humiliate someone for not fitting in? In the right circumstances, psychologists say, you're capable of all of these acts, and worse.

[last lines]

Philip Zimbardo:
What you are seeing here is the beginning, the rise, of a dictatorship.