social influence

• 3 types of conformity

  internalisation, identification, compliance
• conformity 


  a change in a person's behaviour/ opinion as a result of real/imagined pressure from a group of people
• who stated that there are 3 ways of conformity


  herbert kelman 1958
• What is continuous reinforcement?


  Reinforcing every correct response.
• What is extinction in the context of behavior?

  The gradual disappearance of a learned behavior when reinforcement is withheld.
• What is shaping in behavioral psychology?

  Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior.
• What are the key concepts of reinforcement and punishment?

  • Reinforcement: Increases behavior likelihood
  • Positive: Adding desirable stimulus
  • Negative: Removing undesirable stimulus
  • Punishment: Decreases behavior likelihood
  • Positive: Adding undesirable stimulus
  • Negative: Removing desirable stimulus
• What are the types of reinforcement schedules?

  • Continuous: Reinforcing every correct response
  • Intermittent: Reinforcing only some correct responses
• What are the processes of extinction and shaping in behavior modification?

  • Extinction: Gradual disappearance of learned behavior when reinforcement is withheld
  • Shaping: Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior
• What are the two main explanations for conformity according to Deutsch and Gerard (1955)?

  Informational social influence and normative social influence
• What is informational social influence (ISI)?


  • Conforming to the behavior or opinion of the majority
  • Viewing others as a source of correct information
  • Occurs in ambiguous situations
  • Leads to personal decisions based on majority behavior
• When is informational social influence likely to occur?


  When the situation is ambiguous and a person is unsure of the correct response
• How does informational social influence differ from emotional responses?

  ISI is due to cognitive reasons rather than emotional reasons
• What type of conformity does informational social influence lead to?


  Internalisation
• What does internalisation mean in the context of conformity?

  A person genuinely believes that the views of others are right, leading to a change in behavior
• What is normative social influence (NSI)?


  Changing behavior to conform to the majority to be liked and accepted
• What motivates individuals to conform under normative social influence?

  To be liked and accepted by the group and avoid disapproval
• What is another term for compliance in the context of normative social influence?

  Public conformity
• What happens to an individual's private beliefs when they conform due to normative social influence?

  They may not agree with the majority in private
• What was the main task participants had to perform in the study?

  Participants had to identify lines of the same length.
• How many confederates were involved in the study?

  There were 6–8 confederates involved.
• In how many critical trials did participants mistakenly agree with the confederate majority?

  Participants mistakenly agreed in 12 out of 16 critical trials.
• What percentage of the time did participants conform to the confederate majority?

  Participants conformed 37% of the time.
• What was the main reason for conformity among participants?

  The main reason was normative social influence.
• What percentage of participants never conformed in the study?

  25% of participants never conformed.
• How did group size affect conformity rates?

  Conformity increased to 32% with a majority of three but did not increase further.