Asch- conformity

Question 1

What did Sherif research?

Answer 1

Conformity using the autokinetic effect

Question 2

What is the autokinetic effect?

Answer 2

The apparent movement of a stationary light in a darkened room

Question 3

On how many trials did Asch’s confederates give the wrong answer?

Answer 3

12 out of 18

Question 4

What percentage never conformed?

Answer 4

24%

Question 5

Percentage that conformed at least once?

Answer 5

76%

Question 6

Percentage that conformed on 1-3 trials

Answer 6

33%

Question 7

Percentage that conformed on 10-12 trials

Answer 7

11%

Question 8

What did all participants experience?

Answer 8

puzzlement and confusion

Question 9

What are the two interpretations of Asch’s findigns?

Answer 9

Independence and yielding

Question 10

how are people independent?

Answer 10

• Independence with confidence

* Independence without confidence (May turn into yielding)

Question 11

What are the types of yielding

Answer 11

Distortion of perception,
distortion of judgement,
distortion of action

Question 12

How did Asch say participants actively tried to make sense of the situation?

Answer 12

Politeness,
Alternatives,
Experiment,
Self-doubt,

Question 13

Asch’s work explored the impact waht two facts?

Answer 13

Quality of the task and quality of group opposition

Question 14

Why may Asch’s research may not be seen as an experiment?

Answer 14

No control condition

Question 15

What was foudn with quality of the task when the lines were more obvious?

Answer 15

Little effect on the % of wrong responses.

Distortion of perception gone

Question 16

What happened when there was one confederate adn 16 participants?

Answer 16

No quantitative impact

Question 17

What happened when there were 9 confederates and 11 participants?

Answer 17

Particpants perceived strength from the support of each other

Question 18

What did Moscovici argue this showed?

Answer 18

Minority influence

Question 19

How does this show minority influence?

Answer 19

• 9 people who are going against the clear answer is a small proportion of everyone else in the world
• This is minority influence as perhaps everyone else in the world would agree with you but the minority of 9 is different

Question 20

Types of conformity bias

Answer 20

Content of the task and opposition of the majority

Question 21

What are the biases in content of the task?

Answer 21

No uncertainty, nothing to gain, personal relevance

Question 22

What are the biases in opposition of the majority

Answer 22

No opportunity to discuss and resolve disagreement

Question 23

What other factors affected conformity?

Answer 23

Age, gender, culture, decades

Question 24

What is the group deficit model?

Answer 24

The ‘group deficit model’ became enshrined in two-process theories which differentiated between physical and social reality testing (Festinger, 1950) and informational and normative influence (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955)

Question 25

What does normative influence lead to

Answer 25

Conformtiy

Question 26

What does informational influence lead to

Answer 26

Conversion

Question 27

What is referent informational influence? (Turner, 1981)

Answer 27

You conform because norms defines the membership in a group that is an important aspect of your self-concept.