Conformity Booklet One

Question 1

What is conformity?

Answer 1

A change in a person’s behaviour when faced with real or imagined pressure from a person

Question 2

What is internalisation?

Answer 2

Changing your behaviour to fit a wider social group because you have internalised those beliefs and think they are your own

Question 3

What is compliance?

Answer 3

Correcting your behaviour to fit a wider social group despite your own private thoughts

Question 4

What is identificiation?

Answer 4

Changing the way you act to fit a set of social norms, like a specific position in society.

Question 5

What is Informational Social Influence (ISI)?

Answer 5

An individual who conforms and changes the way they act based on the information gained from or about the wider social group

Question 6

What is Normative Social Influence (NSI)?

Answer 6

When am individual conforms or changes the way they act based on apparent social norms and expected behaviour

Question 7

What is majority influence?

Answer 7

When a person changes their attitude, actions and beliefs to fit in with a larger group

Question 8

What is a confederate?

Answer 8

A ‘non-participant’ who is working for the experimenter to answer in a specific way.

Question 9

How many male students were involved in the Asch experiment?

Answer 9

123 male students

Question 10

Asch experiment was known as a task of what?

Answer 10

Visual perception

Question 11

How many participants in turn called out which of three lines matched the standard line

Answer 11

7-9

Question 12

How many people were genuine and where were they placed?

Answer 12

One and at the end

Question 13

On how many of the 18 trials did the confederates give an incorrect answer?

Answer 13

12/18 trials

Question 14

What % of the time did the real pp conform to the majority?

Answer 14

33%

Question 15

What % of real pp conformed at least once ?

Answer 15

75%

Question 16

What % of real pp conformed every time?

Answer 16

5%

Question 17

In the control group how much % actually made a mistake?

Answer 17

1%

Question 18

What conclusion was drawn from asch’s research?

Answer 18

When pps were interviewed, the majority said they conformed due to NSI but some also conformed to ISI too

Question 19

What are the two strengths of Asch’s study ?

Answer 19

High internal validity and high internal reliability

Question 20

What is internal validity?

Answer 20

Control variables are carried out so a cause and effect can be established

Question 21

What is internal reliability?

Answer 21

A consistent method which can be easily repeated.

Question 22

What are the 4 weaknesses of Asch’s study?

Answer 22

Lacks ecological validity, possible demand characteristics, lacks temporal vaidlity and gender bias

Question 23

What is ecological validity?

Answer 23

Not relevant to real life

Question 24

What is demand characteristics?

Answer 24

An artifical setting - the individual can change their behaviour due to this.

Question 25

What is temporal validity?

Answer 25

It's out dated and may not work again/show same results

Question 26

What is gender bias?

Answer 26

Where one gender is only favoured so there is a lack of population validity.

Question 27

What were the Asch's variations?

Answer 27

Size of the majority, unaminity of the group and difficulty of the task.

Question 28

What did Asch do to make the tasks more difficult?

Answer 28

He made a difference between the lines much smaller so the 'correct' answer was less obvious.

Question 29

What happened to conformity when the task was more difficult?

Answer 29

Conformity Increased

Question 30

When the group was unanimous, what happened to conformity?

Answer 30

Increased

Question 31

Levels of conformity decreased to what % when a pp dissented from the majority (correct answer)?

Answer 31

5%

Question 32

Conformity dropped to what % when another pp gave a different incorrect answer?

Answer 32

9%

Question 33

How does the size of the majority effect conformity?

Answer 33

There is little conformity when there is less confederates, increased to 30% when majority of 3. Then after 3 plateau

Question 34

What was the aims for zimbardos SPE study?

Answer 34

To test the situational versus dispositional explanation of behaviour

Question 35

What did zimbardo firstly set up in the basement of the psychology department of Stan ford University?

Answer 35

A mock prison

Question 36

How many student volunteers were selected as emotionally stable?

Answer 36

24

Question 37

How was the pps allocated to the role of guard and prisoner?

Answer 37

Randomlly

Question 38

Prisoners were given what to wear?

Answer 38

A loose smock

Question 39

Prisoners were identified by what?

Answer 39

Numbers

Question 40

The guards had their own uniform, a baton, handcuffs and what else?

Answer 40

Mirrored sunglasses

Question 41

The uniform created a loss of identity called what

Answer 41

De-individuation

Question 42

The guards were told they had to do what over the prisoners?

Answer 42

Control

Question 43

Could the guards cause physical harm? Yes or no

Answer 43

No

Question 44

Within two days of zimbardos experiment, the prisoners did what?

Answer 44

Rebelled

Question 45

Did the guards become harsh to the prisoners? Yes or no

Answer 45

Yes

Question 46

Once the rebellion was put down what happened to the prisoners?

Answer 46

The became subdued, depressed and anxious

Question 47

A prisoner went on what that lead him to being released and what signs did he show?

Answer 47

Hunger strike and signs of psychological disturbance

Question 48

Zimbardo ended the study after how many days instead of the original 14?

Answer 48

6 days

Question 49

What did zimbardo conclude that both the prisoners and guards did?

Answer 49

They conformed to their social role

Question 50

What explanation of behaviour was supported in Zimbardos experiment?

Answer 50

Situational

Question 51

What were the strengths of zimbardos SPE?

Answer 51

Moderate ecological validity and moderate internal validity

Question 52

What were the weaknesses of Zimbardos SPE?

Answer 52

Ethical issues, possibility of demand characteristics, lacks ecological validity, lacks interns validity and possible investigator effects

Question 53

Asch's research links to NSI, give the reasons

Answer 53

Those who maintained private opinion but 'went along' with the group. Conformity decreased with presence of an ally.

Question 54

ISI links to Asch's research, how?

Answer 54

Those who 'doubted their own eyes' and thought everyone else must be right. Conformity Increased with difficulty

Question 55

A weakness of Asch's research is that it was artifical, explain why

Answer 55

Pps knew they were being studied so potential of demand characteristics

Question 56

A strength of Asch's research is that it had controlled lab conditions, explain how

Answer 56

Pps were limited to 7-9 each experiment and there was 1 genuine pp and was done inside a laboratory

Question 57

One strength is that there is research support for NSI, explain how

Answer 57

Asch interviewed pps after, told him they were self conscious on giving the correct answer, conformity decreased (answers given privately) no normative group pressure.

Question 58

However it is hard to separate ISI, explain how?

Answer 58

When Asch added a dissenting pp conformity decreased. They work simultaneously as pp could not conform as dissenter acts as social ally (NSI) or that the dissenter convinces pp that they are correct (ISI)