A01

• State the year(s) Asch conducted his research into the effect of group pressure on conformity

  1951 and 1955
• Describe the procedure of Asch's baseline study

  - 123 male US undergraduates were placed in groups of 9 participants

  - only one naive participant present in the group; the rest were confederates

  - the participants were shown 3 lines and asked to say which was the same length as the 'standard' line
• Describe the findings of Asch's baseline study

  - when confederates gave same wrong answer, mean conformity rate = 36.8%

  - naïve participants agreed with wrong answer on a third of 12 trials
• State three variables which affect conformity

  1. Group size

  2. Unanimity

  3. Task difficulty
• Outline the effect of group size on conformity

  With three confederates conformity increased - any more confederates present resulted in conformity levelling off
• Outline the effect of unanimity on conformity

  Conformity reduced by a quarter when there was a dissenting confederate giving the right answer
• Outline the effect of task difficulty on conformity

  Conformity increased when the line-judging task made more difficult
• Explain what a confederate is

  A colleague of the researcher who is aware of the true aim of the study
• Explain what a dissenting confederate is

  A person in an experiment who goes against the group by either giving the right answer or a different wrong answer
• Would making a task easier increase or decrease the likelihood of a person conforming

  Decrese
• Would having more dissenting participants increase or decrease the likelihood of a person conforming?

  Decrease