Asch's research into conformity Flashcards
What was the aim of Asch experiment?
Aim: To examine the extent to which social pressure to conform from
unanimous majority affects conformity in an unambiguous (clear)
situation.
What was the type of experiment of Asch’s experiment?
Type of experiment: Lab experiment
What were the variables in Asch experiment?
IV = confederate responses (actor),
DV = naïve participants response (real).
What was the Sampling Technique in Asch experiment?
Sampling Technique: Volunteer sampling
What was the method in Asch experiment?
Method: 123 American male undergraduate students, who believed they
were taking part in a vision test.
Asch used a line judgement task, where he placed one real (naïve) p in a
room with 6-8 confederates (actors), who had agreed on their answers
in advance. The naïve participant would always be seated next to last.
What were the Results of Asch’s experiment
Results: On average the real/naïve p’s conformed to the incorrect answer
on:
32% of the critical trials (overall conformity level).
74% of the p’s conformed on at least one critical trial
26% of p’s never conformed.
What were the variations of Asch’s experiment
Group size: whether the size of the group would be more important than the agreement of the group.
Unanimity (agreement): if the presence of another, non-conforming person would effect the naïve
participants conformity.
Task difficulty: the line judging task
was made more difficult by making
the stimulus line and the comparison
lines more similar in length.
What were the results (concordance rates) for different group size in Asch’s experiment?
Group size: 1 confederate =Lower (3%)
Group size: 2 confederates= Lower (12.8%)
Group size: 3 confederates (optimal point)= Asch found that with three confederates conformity to the wrong answer rose. Remained the same
(32%)
Group size: 15 = confederates Addition of further confederates made little difference. Lower (29%)
What were the results (concordance rates) for unanimity in Asch’s experiment?
Unanimity: where one of the confederates gave the correct answer throughout. = Lower (5%)
Unanimity: where one of the confederates gave a different incorrect answer to the majority. The presence of a dissenter enabled the naïve participant to behave more independently. = Lower (9%)
What were the results (concordance rates) for different difficulty in Asch’s experiment?
Higher
What was the aim of Jenness (1932) research?
Aim: The purpose of this study was to further investigate how humans
conform based on the behaviour of others surrounding them.
What was the procedure of Jenness (1932) research?
Procedure: Jenness gathered 101 psychology students and required them to each individually estimate how many beans were in a glass bottle (the
correct answer was 811). Following this, they were separated into groups
of three and discuss their answers. After the discussion, each participant was asked to again give an estimate of how many beans they believed were in the bottle.
What was the result of Jenness (1932) research?
Results: Almost all of the participants changed their original answer when they were given the second opportunity to estimate the number of beans in the glass bottle. On average male participants changed their answer by 256 beans and female participants changed their answers by
382 beans.
