Variations of Asch's study

Question 1

What were the 3 variations of Asch’s study?

Answer 1

Group size
Unanimity
Task difficulty

Question 2

What was the group size variation in Asch’s study?

Answer 2

These variations ranged from 1 to 15 confederates.
When there was one confederate, the participants conformed on 3% of the critical trials.
When the group size increased to two confederates, the real participants conformed on 12.8% of the critical trials.
When there were three confederates, the participants conformed on 32% of the critical trials, the same percentage as Asch’s original experiment, where there were seven confederates. This demonstrates that conformity reaches it’s highest level with just three confederates.
In one condition he used 15 confederates. In this experiment the rate of conformity slightly dropped. It is possible that the rate of conformity dropped because the real participants became suspicious of the experiment and not because the pressure to conform is less in larger groups.

Question 3

What was the unanimity variation in Asch’s study?

Answer 3

He added a confederate that either said another wrong answer or the right answer. Levels of conformity decreased.

Question 4

What was the task difficulty variation in Asch’s study?

Answer 4

In Asch’s original experiment, the correct answer was always obvious. In one his variations he made the task more difficult, by making the difference between the line lengths significantly smaller. In this variation Asch found the rate of conformity increased, although he didn’t report the percentage.