Conformity: Asch's Research Flashcards
When did Asch conduct his research?
1951
Aim of Asch (1951):
An experiment whereby there was an obvious answer to a line judgement task. If the participant gave an incorrect answer, it would be clear that this was due to group pressure
Procedure of Asch (1951):
- Laboratory experiment
- 1 naive participant
- 7 Confederates
- Line task comparing three lines to a target line and choosing which one was the correct answer
Define confederates:
An individual in an experiment who is not a real participant and has been instructed how to behave by the researcher.
Define Participants:
The group of people taking part.
Results of Asch (1951):
- 32% of the participants in each trial went along and conformed to the clearly incorrect majority
- 75% conformed at least once
Reasons for conformity after interviews with participants:
- Distortion of perception (saw the line the same way as participants)
- Distortion of judgement (doubtful/unsure of own judgement)
- Distortion of Action (correctly answered privately but changed publicly to avoid disaproval)
What were Asch’s variations?
- group size
- unanimity
- task difficulty
What was the effect of group size on conformity?
- Little conformity with 1/2 people
- Increase conformity to 30% with three people
- Further increase had little to none effect on conformity levels
What was the effect of unanimity on conformity?
- Dissenter gave right answer
- Conformity dropped considerably
What was the effect of difficulty on conformity?
-Increasing the difficulty, increases the conformity
What are group size and unanimity an example of?
Normative Social Influence
What are task difficulty an example of?
Informational Social Influence
Evaluation of Asch’s research methods:
- Highly controlled using replicable materials
- Reduced effect of extraneous variables
Evaluation of artificial task/situation:
- Increase demand characteristics
- Unlikely task to be in everyday life (lack generalisation)
