Asch's experiment

Question 1

Aim of experiment

Answer 1

Examine the extent to which social pressure from a majority, could affect a person to conform.

Question 2

Procedure

Answer 2

Sat one real participant with 7 confederates. Line judgement and comparison task. Confederates would agree on an incorrect answer without P knowing. P always sat second to last. Correct answer was always obvious.

Question 3

How many trials were there? In how many trials were Ps decieved?

Answer 3

18 trials, 12 of which deceive Ps.

Question 4

Ps confirmed incorrect answers how often

Answer 4

ON average, real participants conformed to the incorrect answers on 32% of the critical trials.

Question 5

What % of people conformed at least once?

Answer 5

74%

Question 6

Use of a control group

Answer 6

Control group with no confeds, less than 1% error.

Question 7

ISI or NSI? Why?

Answer 7

NSI. Conditions were unambiguous as the answers were made clear. Ps wanted to avoid being ridiculed.

Question 8

Pop validity

Answer 8

Low, sample only includes 50 white men. Culture and gender bias, findings cannot be applied to everyone.

Question 9

Ecological validity

Answer 9

low, lab experiment. This isn’t any every day situation, so it doesn’t reflect conformity in every day life.

Question 10

Perks of being a lab experiment

Answer 10

IV can be heavily controlled. Easy to establish cause and effect. High internal validity. Extermination of extraneous variables.