Aschs Study

• Give the results of variations of Aschs study

  group size-1 confederate conformity was 3%, 2 confederates 12.8%, 3 confederates 32%.

  task difficuluty-confomrity increases.

  unaminity-confederates give correct answer, conformity dropped to 5%,gave a different incorrect answer to majority conformity dropped to 9%
• Give 2 weaknesses of Aschs study

  lacks ecological validity-artifical setting-doesnt reflect the complexity of real life conformity. 

  lacks population validity-only american male undergrads,subject to gender bias. 

  ethical issues-deception as the pps thought that they were apart of a study about 'perception' not 'conformity'- so could not give informed consent. psychological harm-pps may have felt embarassed after learning true aim of the study.
• Give 2 strengths of Aschs study 

  supports normative social influence- pps reported that they conformed to fit in with the group

  high internal validity-strict control over extraneous variables,such as timing of the assessment and type of task used.pps did the experiment before without the presence of confederates to see if they actually knew the correct answer,thus removing the confounding variable of a 'lack of knowledge'.

  lab setting so good control over extraneous variables.replication of experiment is easy,increasing reliability.
• What variable dropped conformity considerably?

  -one confederate to give the right answer

  -breaks group consesus 
• What variation made participants doubt themselves more?

  increased difficulty of task-made lines closer together 

  increases conformity
• What variation of Asch's only worked to an optimal point?

  more participants in the study(more than 3)
• What was asch's conclusion?

  participant conforms to fit in or assume the group knows better.He also found that having a partner who gives the correct answer reduces conformity.
• What were Aschs findings?

  control trials- pps only made mistakes 1% of the time.

  critical- pps gave incorrect answers 36.8% of the time,75% conformed at least once
• What was Aschs procedure?

  Line judgement task with 123 undergraduate american participants.Particpants were tested in groups of 6-8, only one was a genuine participant always eated last or next to last in the group.The others were all confederates of Asch.On each trial,participants saw two white cards one labelled 'X', and the other as ABC comparison lines, with one being obviously the same length.
• What were the aims of Asch's study?

  to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.