conformity: aschs study

Question 1

what is conformity

Answer 1

the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to group norms

Question 2

what is the aim of aschs study

Answer 2

to investigate how people respond to group pressure i.e. whether or not they conform.

Question 3

what are the methods of aschs study

Answer 3

method- 123 american male students (naïve participants). naïve participants who sat on the end were tested with a group of between 6 to 9 confederates.
method- there were 18 trials in total and 12 out of these were ‘critical trials’

Question 4

what are the results of aschs study

Answer 4

on the 12 critical trials the naïve participant gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time

Question 5

why was aschs study ‘a child of its time’

Answer 5

the 1950s were a particularly conformist time in america

Question 6

what factors effect conformity

Answer 6

1. the difficulty of the task
2. the group size
3. anonymity needed

Question 7

what’s one weakness of aschs study

Answer 7

the task and research were artificial

Question 8

what’s another weakness of aschs study

Answer 8

being asked to judge the length of a line with a group of strangers doesn’t reflect the everyday situation