Asch study

• What was the aim of Asch's Study? The degree to which individuals would conform to the majority who gave obviously wrong answers
• What was Asch's Sample?

  123 American Male Student Volunteers
• What is an issue with Asch's sample? -Small sample

  -Ethnocentric

  -Androcentric

  -Volunteers are different- they were told it was a visual perception test
• What was the procedure for Asch's Study? - 1 naive pp in a group of 7-9

  -Match a standard line with A,B or C

  -12/18 trials were critical

  -Real PP answered last or next to last

  -Unambiguous study
• What was the conformity rate for Asch's study?

  37%
• How many PPs conformed all the time in Asch's study? 5%
• What were the post-interview findings in Asch's study? -Distortion of judgement- Not sure on accuracy so conformed to majority

  
  

  -Distortion of perception- Didn't know answer so actually conformed

  
  

  -Distortion of Action- Avoided Ridicule
• What are the positive evaluation point for Asch's study?

  • Smith et al. : replicated study cross-culturally and found that conformity was due to group cohesion and that collectivist cultures had the highest rates of conformity
  • Lab experiment- standardised procedure (replicable)
• What are the negative evaluation point for Asch's study?

  • biased sample: only tested American men, may not apply to other cultures or genders
  • Lab experiment- Low EV, lacked mundane realism
  • Unethical- deception, psychological harm
  • Not a true reflection- only 32% conformed so that majority was independent other than conformist
  • did not investigate individual differences: Lucas et al. found that participants more confident in their ability to answer the question conformed less