Ash

• How many participants were in Asch’s study ?


  123
• where did the participants come from in Asch’s study?

  America
• In Asch’s study what gender were the participants?

  Male
• In asch’s study how many naive participants conformed ?

  naive participants conformed 36.8% of the trials
• In Asch‘s study, how many participants never conformed ?

  25% of naive participants never conformed
• In Asch’s study what are the 3 variations ?

  group size, unanimity and task difficulty
• In Asch’s study, did conformity increase or decrease for group size ?

  Conformity increased, up to 3, then levelled off
• How did Asch use unanimity?

  Asch placed dissenter (confederate) in the group
• Did conformity increase or decrease for unanimity in Asch‘s study?

  conformity rate decreased
• How did Asch make the task more difficult ?

  He made the line lengths more similar
• Did task difficulty increase or decrease conformity in Asch’s study ?

  Conformity increased when the task was harder
• What are the negatives of Asch‘s study ?

  1 : artificial situation and task - participants knew this was a study so they just played along with a trivial task (demand characteristic)

  2 : limited application - Aschs research only conducted on American men

  3 : conformity is more complex - confident participants were less conforming (individual factor)
• What research supports Aschs study ?

  Lucas et al. found more conformity when maths problems were harder
• What is the purpose of Asch's baseline study?

  To assess the extent of conformity to the opinion of others in unambiguous situations
• In what year did Asch conduct his baseline study?

  1951
• What was the range of confederates used in Asch's study on group size?

  From one to 15 confederates
• What relationship did Asch find between group size and conformity rate?

  A curvilinear relationship where conformity increased with group size but plateaued after a certain point
• At what point did conformity to the wrong answer rise to 31.8%?


  With three confederates present
• What did Asch investigate regarding the variable of unanimity?

  If the presence of a non-conforming person would affect conformity
• How did the presence of a dissenter affect the genuine participant's conformity?


  It decreased conformity to less than a quarter of the level when the majority was unanimous
• What does the presence of a dissenter suggest about majority influence?


  That majority influence depends largely on unanimity
• What variable did Asch manipulate to investigate task difficulty?


  The similarity in length between the stimulus line and the comparison lines
• What was the effect of increasing task difficulty on conformity?


  Conformity increased
• Why might conformity increase when the task becomes harder?


  Because the situation becomes more ambiguous, leading participants to seek guidance from others
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of Asch's research on conformity?


  Strengths:

  • Provides insight into social influence
  • Demonstrates the effects of group dynamics

  
  

  Weaknesses:

  • Conducted in an artificial setting
  • Limited generalizability to real-world situations
  • Potential for demand characteristics
• What is a limitation of Asch's study regarding the setting?


  It was conducted in an artificial setting
• How might the artificial setting of Asch's study affect the results?


  It may limit the generalizability of the findings
• What is a potential issue with the participants in Asch's study?


  They may have been influenced by demand characteristics
• Why is it important to consider the effects of demand characteristics in Asch's study?


  Because they can influence participants' behavior and responses
• What is a limitation of Asch's research regarding the task and situation?


  The task and situation were artificial.
• What are demand characteristics in the context of Asch's study?


  Participants may have gone along with what was expected because they knew they were in a research study.
• Why was the task of identifying lines considered trivial in Asch's study?


  There was really no reason not to conform.
• According to Susan Fiske (2012), how did Asch's groups differ from everyday groups?


  Asch's groups were not very ‘groupy’ and did not resemble real-life groups.
• What does the limitation of Asch's findings imply about their generalizability?


  The findings do not generalize to real-world situations where conformity consequences might be important.
• What demographic limitation is noted in Asch's research regarding participants?


  Asch's participants were primarily American men.
• How might gender influence conformity according to Neto (1995)?


  Women may be more conformist due to concerns about social relationships and acceptance.
• What cultural difference is highlighted in conformity rates between individualist and collectivist cultures?


  Collectivist cultures, like China, have higher conformity rates than individualist cultures like the USA.
• What does the limitation of Asch's findings suggest about conformity in women and people from some cultures?


  Asch's findings tell us little about conformity in women and people from collectivist cultures.
• What did Todd Lucas et al. (2006) find regarding conformity and task difficulty?


  Participants conformed more often when the problems were harder.
• How does Lucas et al.'s study support Asch's claims?


  It shows that task difficulty is a variable that affects conformity.