SI:Conformity: Asch's Research & variables Flashcards
What did Asch test and how did he do it?
Conformity.
Showed participants 2 cards:
One with 1 standard line
One with 3 comparison lines
One of the lines matched the standard line, other 2 lines were substantially different.
Participants were asked which line matched the standard
Participants for Asch’s line study
123 American male undergraduates
How were the participants tested?
Each naive participant was tested individually with a group of 8 confederates.
Naive participant was unaware the other were confederates
What were the confederates instructed to do?
To give the same wrong answer
How many trials did each participant take part in and how many of these were critical (where confeds gave wrong answer)
18 trials, 12 critical
The naive participant gave a wrong answer __% of the time
36.8%
How many participants didn’t conform on any trials
25%
How many participants conformed at least once?
75%
What is the Asch effect’ and why does it describe the results from his research?
The extent to which participants conform even when the situation is unambiguous
What did participants report when they were interviewed afterwards?
They conformed to avoid rejection (NSI)
Asch’s variations
Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty
Group size
3 confederates -> conformity to wrong answer rose to 31.8%
Additional confederates -> little difference
What does the group size variable suggest?
A small majority is not sufficient for influence to be exerted. On the other hand, no need for a majority of more than 3
Unanimity
Presence of a dissenting confederate giving right and wrong answers
Conformity -> 25% avg
What does unanimity suggest?
That the presence of a dissenting confederate enable the naive participant to behave more independently
