Asch's Variables

Question 1

What are the 3 variables?

Answer 1

Group Size
Unanimity
Task Difficulty

Question 2

group size

Answer 2

• Very little conformity in groups with 1 or 2 confederates
• Majority of 3 confederates, rate went up to 30%

Question 3

unanimity

Answer 3

• If one confederate gave the correct answer conformity dropped from 33% → 5.5%
• If one confederate gave the wrong answer conformity dropped to 9%
• You only need one person to break the chain for conformity to drop

Question 4

task difficulty

Answer 4

• Asch made the task difficult in one variation, conformity increased

Question 5

eval points for original study

Answer 5

• lacks population validity (all men and USA pp’s used)
• lacks temporal validity (1950 was conformist era)
• ethical issues (deception, psych harm, no informed consent)
• lacks ecological validity, cannot generalise