Explanations of conformity: normative social influence, informational social influence

Question 1

Summarise sherif’s (1935) experiment

Answer 1

• Used the autokitnetic effect to demonstrate conformity (a mirage of light that you believe to be moving)
• Lab experiment
• Repeated measures design

Question 2

What were the 3 methods for Sherif’s (1935) experiment

Answer 2

Condition 1: Participants asked individually to judge how far the light appeared to move

Condition 2: Participants put in groups of three and asked to estimate again out loud

Condition 3: Participants had to go back to estimating individually

Question 3

What was the conclusion of Sherif’s (1935) experiment

Answer 3

When the situation is ambiguous, participants looked to others for guidance. as shown when the variation decreased throughout each condition.

They internalised the the total estimate, because they used the group estimate even when they were away from the group, followed the norm.

Question 4

What are the advantages of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 4

Reduces participant variables
Reliable method
Results can be applied to schools (application)
Similar research had been conducted, similar results (reliability)
High internal validity, it is highly controlled, they all saw the same amount of light, they all had the same amount of time (validity)

Question 5

What are the disadvantages of Sherif’s experiment

Answer 5

Order effects
Lacks mundane (usual) realism
Lacks ecological validity, unrealistic, cannot be applied to real life (validity)
It is not very representative of a larger area (generalisability)

Question 6

Define generalisability

Answer 6

Can you generalise the findings of the research to different groups of people?

Question 7

What does R.A.V.E.E mean?

Answer 7

The five ethical guidelines for experiments:

Reliability - can the research itself be replicated
Application - can you apply the findings to the real world
Validity - did the experiment measure what it was supposed to?
Ethics - were any ethical guidelines broken?
Economic implication - do the findings have any implications for the economy?

Question 8

What was the aim of Asch’s normative social influence study?

Answer 8

To find if participants would change their answer to an obviously wrong answer

Question 9

Describe the procedure of Asch’s normative social influence study

Answer 9

1 Naive participant was put in a room with 7 confederates.

The naive participant was always the last to answer.

They would go down the line, the confederates giving incorrect answers, the aim was to see if the participant would change their answer accordingly.

Question 10

How many participants conformed in Asch’s normative influence study?

Answer 10

74% of participants conformed once in one of the 12 trials and 26% never conformed

Question 11

What are the strengths and weaknesses of Asch’s research?

Answer 11

Strengths:
- Reliability - the research is easily replicated and there has been many studies on this since
- Application - you can compare the results with school, and use the research to understand groups

Weaknesses:
- Deception - the participants were not informed of the real intention behind the experiment
- Generalisability - The groups are not varied, the measured group is not representative of the larger population

Question 12

What are the 5 ethical issues in psychology

Answer 12

Deceit
Right to withdraw
Informed consent
Privacy
Protection from harm

Question 13

How to answer a 8-12 mark question

Answer 13

Point - one strength of the research is
Evidence - support your claim by outlining evidence or example
Elaborate - Explain or elaborate on your evidence
Link - show how what you have just said matters in relation to the theory or research are discussing. Use: This suggests that…