Investgation Examples Flashcards
(12 cards)
When was Asch’s baseline study?
1951
What happened in Asch’s baseline experiment?
•3 lines on a card where different lengths
•Had to say out loud which letter line matched the “x” line
•Participants were tested in groups of 6-8 being the only participant, the rest were confederates
•All confederates said the same incorrect answer
•Participant was sat near the end of the table
What did Asch’s results find?
25% of people NEVER conformed
37% on average conformed
75% conformed at least once
How did group size affect Asch?
After 9 people, conformity levels levelled off
3 confederates = 31.8%
What happened when Asch broke unanimity?
Introducing a dissenter decreased conformity by 1/4
How did task difficulty affect Asch?
Increasing the difficulty made the participants feel more unsure
This increased conformity as people look for guidance when uncertain
Disadvantages of Asch
• Artificial task
• Demand characteristics (cue from researchers that might give away the purpose)
• Trivial task (not everyone would bother about it)
Criticism of Asch
Limited application-only done on men in the USA (individualistic cutlure)
What did Zimbardo?
1973
Turned uni basement into a fake prison
24 students were participants being payed $15 per day
Randomly assigned prisoner or guard
To see how they conformed to their social roles
Prisoners “revolt” within 2 days
Experiment was stopped early on day 6
Strengths to Zimbardo
Good control variables: emotional stability
Random roles
Results were useful: imptove guards training
Improve prison safety
Weaknesses to Zimbardo
Did he exaggerate results?
Only 1/3 of guards were abusive
Ethical issues
Lack of realism- were they acting?
How many conversations were about prison life?
90%
