Asch

• What was the aim of Asch's study into conformity?

  To investigate the extent of conformity to a majority in an unambiguous situation.
• What was the research method and sample in Asch's study into conformity?

  The research method was a lab experiment and the sample was 123 male, American participants.
• left-handWhat was the task in Asch's study into conformity [4]

  1. Each participant saw two large white cards: Line X on the left-hand card and the three comparison lines (A, B, C) on the right-hand card.
  2. In each trial, the participants had to say which comparison line was the same length as line X.
  3. Participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8. Only one participant was genuine, the rest were confederates.
  4. The genuinIne participant was always seated last or second to last.
• In Asch's study, why was the genuine participant always seated last or second to last? [2]

  The placement of the participant is another variable that could affect the outcome of the study: It's an extraneous variable.
• There were 18 trials in total, the confederates gave the wrong answer in 12/18 of these trials. Why not all of the trials?


  To prevent the participants from guessing the aim of the study and changing their behaviour
• What were the findings of Asch's study into conformity?

  The mean conformity rate across the critical trials was 36.8%. 75% of participants conformed at least once, therefore 25% of participants never conformed.
• In Asch's Study what were the critical trials?

  The trials where confederates gave the wrong answer
• What was the conclusion of Asch's study into conformity?

  The findings suggest that participants conformed due to normative social influence, this is evident in the post-experimental interviews where participants said that they knew their answers were wrong but went along with the group in order to fit in.
• What are the three variables that affect conformity?

  Group size, unanimity and task difficulty.
• How was the variable of group size investigated in Asch's study into conformity?

  By adding more confederates, thus increasing the size of the majority. 1-15 confederates were used
• How was the variable of unanimity investigated in Asch's study into conformity?

  The majority was unanimous so a confederate was introduced who disagreed with the majority.
• How was the variable of task difficulty investigated in Asch's study into conformity?

  The difficulty of each question was increased thereby also increasing ambiguity.
• How did the variable of group size affect conformity levels in the critical trials?

  Conformity increased with group size but only up to a point. 1 confederate = 3%, 3 confederates = 31.8%. Any more confederates after this made little difference.
• How did the variable of unanimity effect conformity levels on the critical trials?

  Participants conformed less often in the presence of a dissenter, even when the dissenter disagreed with the participant. Reduced to less than a quarter of the level when the majority was unanimous.
• How did the variable of task difficulty affect conformity levels in the critical trials?

  Conformity would increase due to participants not knowing the answer.
• What does the variable of group size suggest?

  It suggests that the greater the majority the more likely you are to conform.
• What does the variable of unanimity suggest?

  It suggests that the majority is dependant on unanimity.
• What does the variable of task difficulty suggest?

  It suggests that conformity is due to informational social influence. As a task becomes more ambiguous you look to others for guidance and assume they are right.