Asch's Study

Question 1

What were Asch’s participants

Answer 1

123 Male American undergrads - in groups of 6 consisting of 1 true participants and 5 confederates

Question 2

What Was the aim

Answer 2

To investigate conformity and majority influence

Question 3

What was the procedure

Answer 3

• Participants and confederates were presented with 4 lines - 3 comparison lines and 1 standard line
• They had to state which of the 3 lines were the same
• The real participant went last
  Confederates would give the same incorrect answer for 12/18 trials
• Asch observed how often the participant would give the same incorrect answer

Question 4

What were the findings

Answer 4

• 36.8% conformed
• 25% never conformed
• 75% conformed at least once
• In a control trial,1% of the participants responses were incorrect

Question 5

What were the 3 factors affecting conformity

Answer 5

Group Size, Unanimity and Task Difficulty

Question 6

What is group size

Answer 6

More likely to conform in a larger group. Any more than 3 confederates conformity rose by 30%. A person is more likely to conform if all members are in agreement

Question 7

What is unanimity?

Answer 7

Someone’s more likely to conform when the group all give the same answer. When their was. another participant who gave the correct answer conformity fell from 32% to 5.5%

Question 8

What is task difficulty

Answer 8

Someone’s more likely to conform when the task is harder. Asch altered the comparison lines to make them more similar in length

Question 9

Give a strength of Asch’s study (HIV)

Answer 9

High Internal Validity - There was strict control over extraneous variables, such as timing of assessment and type of task used. Participants did the experiment before to see if they knew the correct answer removing any confounding variables

Question 10

Give a strength of Asch’s study (LE)

Answer 10

Lab Experiment -Extraneous and confounding variables are strictly controlled, meaning replication is easy, reducing likelihood that findings were one off

Question 11

Give a strength of Asch’s study (EI)

Answer 11

Ethical Issues - They breached BPS guidelines (deception and giving consent). Participants were debriefed after and ethical issues don’t threaten validity or reliability of findings

Question 12

Give a strength of Asch’s study (SNSI)

Answer 12

Supports NSI - Participants said they conformed to fit in, so support the idea of NSI, stating people conform to fit in even when they privately disagree

Question 13

Give a Weakness of Asch’s study (LEV)

Answer 13

Lacks Ecological Validity - Based on people’s perceptions of lines so findings can’t be generalised to real life, as they don’t reflect the complexity of real-life conformity

Question 14

Give a Weakness of Asch’s study (LPV)

Answer 14

Lacks population validity due to sampling issues - participants were only American male undergrads So gender bias study can’t be generalised to women

Question 15

Give a Weakness of Asch’s study (EI)

Answer 15

Ethical Issues - Participants were tricked into thinking the study’s about perception rather than compliance. Could have been psychological harm participants could have been embarrassed after learning true aim

Question 16

Give a Weakness of Asch’s study (LV)

Answer 16

Lacked Validity - The social contest of the 1950s could affect results because it was an anti-communist period in America