Asch's Research

Question 1

Asch’s Original Research Procedure

Answer 1

Aim = investigate extent to which social pressures could affect a person’s ability to conform.
Used 123 American Male undergrads in a lab experiment placing them second to last in a group of 5 confederates (thought they were other participants) then showed a standard line and 3 other comparison lines and one of these was the same length as standard one. They then went from one end to the other asking them to say out loud which comparison line matched the standard line and on 12/18 the confederates would give the wrong answer.

Question 2

Asch’s Original Research Findings

Answer 2

75% of participants conformed at least once and 37% conformed every time.

Question 3

(O) Strength

Answer 3

High internal validity.
Standardised procedure and well controlled.
Certain measured what supposed and can be replicated to see if consistent.
However… artificial and strangers so may not reflect real life.

Question 4

(O) Weakness (date)

Answer 4

Carried out in 1950s.
Perrin and Spencer (1980) replicated it and found only one conformed in 396 trials.
Lacks temporal validity.
Furthermore… cold war happening so would want to seem like one strong nation so ingrained into them this conformity making it natural for them to conform.

Question 5

(O) Weakness (pop)

Answer 5

Participants are not representative of wider society.
American students.
America is individualistic so cannot be applied to collectivist countries.
Furthermore… research found conformity levels in collectivist cultures is 37% but only 25% in individualistic. They have different values so cannot be applied.

Question 6

Variations affecting Conformity

Answer 6

Group size, unanimity, task difficulty

Question 7

Group Size

Answer 7

Found conformity was small for a group size of 1-2, but went up to 32% when there was 3 confederates, and when the group size increased past this, conformity remained relatively the same.
Suggests group size important to a point. Impacted as NSI about not wanting to go against group so as it got larger stood out more and wanted to conform to fit in.

Question 8

Unanimity

Answer 8

When a confederate disagreed with the majority with another wrong answer conformity decreased to 9%, and with the right answer 5%.
Conformity more likely when cracks perceived in group. Impacted as they had social support from dissenter so gave confidence.

Question 9

Task Difficulty

Answer 9

Conformity increased when the difference between lines was made smaller.
Conformity more likely when answer is unclear. Impacted as ISI means they look to others for guidance when ambiguous, and this was made ambiguous.

Question 10

(V) Strength

Answer 10

Task difficulty support.
Lucas et al (2006) found when asked math questions of varying difficulties when it was more difficult more likely to conform to incorrect answers.
When greater uncertainty and ambiguity conform. ISI.
However… also found more likely to conform if rated maths ability poor, suggesting self-efficacy impacts also so impacts study too.

Question 11

(V) Weakness (date)

Answer 11

Carried out in 1950s.
Perrin and Spencer (1980) replicated it and found only one conformed in 396 trials.
Lacks temporal validity.
Furthermore… cold war happening so would want to seem like one strong nation so ingrained into them this conformity making it natural for them to conform.

Question 12

(V) Weakness

Answer 12

Issues determining effect of group size.
Most use limited range for size of majority being 2-4 as accept 3 as being enough for conformity.
Little research backs this up as it just accepts this as fact, meaning could be more or less past 15.
However… may not be needed as they feel Asch’s enough and often costs more for more confederates.