Paper 1 - Social Influence - Topic 1 - Conformity

Question 1

1.1 - What did Solomon Asch’s baseline procedure assess?

Answer 1

Asch’s baseline procedure assessed the extent to which people conform to the opinion of others in unambiguous situations

Question 2

1.1 - What was the significance of Asch’s baseline study?

Answer 2

The baseline study serves as a comparison point for all of Asch’s later studies

Question 3

1.1 What variable did Asch investigate regarding group size?

Answer 3

Asch investigated whether the size of the group was more important than the agreement of the group

Question 4

1.1 - What was the relationship between group size and conformity rate?

Answer 4

Asch found a curvilinear relationship; conformity increased with group size but levelled off after three confederates

Question 5

1.1 - What effect did the presence of a non-conforming person have on conformity?

Answer 5

The presence of a dissenter reduced conformity rates to less than a quarter of the level when the majority was unanimous

Question 6

1.1 - How did task difficulty affect conformity in Asch’s study?

Answer 6

Asch found that increasing task difficulty led to increased conformity, as ambiguity made participants look to others for guidance

Question 7

1.1 - What is informational social influence?

Answer 7

ISI occurs when individuals look to others for guidance in ambiguous situations, assuming others are correct

Question 8

1.1 - What is a limitation of Asch’s research regarding the situation and task?

Answer 8

The task and situation were artificial, leading to demand characteristics and limited generalisability to real-world situations

Question 9

1.1 - What demographic limitation exists in Asch’s study?

Answer 9

Asch’s participants were primarily American men, limiting the findings’ applicability to women and individuals from collectivist cultures

Question 10

1.1 - What research supports Asch’s findings on task difficulty?

Answer 10

Todd Lucas et al. (2006) found that participants conformed more on harder math problems, supporting Asch’s claim about task difficulty

Question 11

1.1 - What counterpoint did Lucas et al.’s study reveal?

Answer 11

Lucas et al. Found that participants with high confidence in their maths abilities conformed less on hard tasks, indicating individual factors also influence conformity rates to

Question 12

1.1 - What ethical issue arose from Asch’s research?

Answer 12

Participants were deceived into believing confederates were genuine participants, raising ethical concerns about informed consent

Question 13

1.1 - What is the potential benefit of understanding conformity from Asch’s research?

Answer 13

Increased knowledge of conformity can help avoid mindless destructive conformity