Research

• What was the aim of Moscovicis research?


  To investigate if a consistent minority could influence a majority to give an incorrect answer, in a colour perception task
• What was the procedure of Moscovicis experiment 


  He sampled consisted 172 female participants

  • They were placed in groups of 6 and shown 36 slides which were all carrying shades of blue
  • They had to state out loud the colour of each slide
• What were the conditions of Moscovicis experiment

  Two of the 6 participants were confederates and in one condition the two confederates said that all 36 slides were green and in the second condition the confederates said that 24 of the slides were green and 12 were blue
• What were the findings of Moscovicis experiment

  In the consistent condition, the real participants agreed on 8.42% of the trials

  In the inconsistent condition, the real participants only agreed on 1.25% of the trials
• What conclusion was given from Moscovicis experiment 


  That a consistent minority is vital for minority influence to occur.

  • Minority influence was 7.17pp higher in the consistent condition than in the inconsistent condition and thus a consistent minority exerts more influence.
  • The findings support the importance of consistency earn influencing the minority
• What was the aim of Asch's experiment

  To investigate the extent of conformity to a majority in an unambiguous situation
• What was the procedure of Asch's experiment

  It consisted of 123 male, American participants

  • Each participant saw two large white cards; line X on the left card and the three comparison cards (A, B, C) on the right card. On each trial the participants had to say which comparison line was the same length and line X
  • Participants were tested in groups of 6 to 8
  • Only one participant was genuine, the rest were confederates
  • The genuine participant was always seated last or second to last
  • There were 18 trials in total
  • The confederates gave the wrong answer in 12/18 of these trials
• What were the findings of Asch's experiment

  The mean conformity rate across the critical trials was 36.5%

  • 75% of participants conformed at least once
  • 25% of participants never conformed
• What was the conclusion given from Asch's research

  The findings suggest that participants conformed due to normative social influence

  • this is evidenced 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 was the procedure that Asch used to test how group size affected conformity?

  He varied the number of confederates from 1-15 so had group sizes of 2-16

  • conformity increased when group size increased
• What was the procedure that Asch used to test how Unanimity affected conformity?

  He introduced a confederate who disagreed with other confederates
• What was the procedure that Asch used to test how task difficulty affected conformity?

  He increased the difficulty level by making the stimulus line and comparison line similar to each other in length
• What were the findings that Asch found when testing how group size affected conformity?

  Conformity increased with group size but only up to a point

  • 1 confederate = 3%
  • 3 confederates 31.8%
  • More made little difference
• What was the conclusion that Asch found from changing group size?

  People are more sensitive to the views of others
• What were the findings that Asch found when he tested how unanimity affected conformity?

  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
• What was the conclusion that Asch made when he tested how unanimity affected conformity?

  Influence of the majority is dependent on unanimity
• What were the findings that Asch had when he tested how task difficulty affected conformity?

  He found that conformity increased because the situation was more ambiguous
• What was the conclusion that Asch made when he tested how task difficulty affected conformity?

  Conformity is due to ISI, As task becomes more ambitious you look to others for guidance and assume that they are right
• What was the aim of Zimbardos research?

  To investigate whether behaviours displayed in prisons are due to internal dispositional factors (the people themselves) or external situational factors (the environment and conditions of the experiment)
• How did the zimbardo experiment take place?

  There were 24 U.S male student volunteers who tested as 'emotionally stable'

  • 21 were selected to complete the study
  • They were randomly assigned their role
• What rights were the prisoners from zimbardos experiment given?

  3 meals a day, a uniform and an ID number which they were referred to as.

  • They were stripped naked and their personal belongings were taken
• What were each guard from Zimbardo's experiment given?

  A uniform with whistles, clubs and sunglasses.
• What was one issue with Zimbardos conformity to social roles experiment?


  Zimbardo got involved in the experiment by taking the role of a prison superintendent and the researcher
• What were the findings of Zimbardo's experiment?

  The study was planned for 2 weeks but ended after 6 days

  • The guards treated prisoners harshly
  • Within 2 days, the prisoners rebelled by ripping their clothes and shouting abuse at the guards
  • The guards retaliated and started using a 'divide and rule' tatic
  • After rebellion certain prisoners became subdued, depressed and anxious
  • One prisoner went on a hunger strike and the guards tried to force feed him and punished him by sending him to the 'hole'
• What was the conclusion of Zimbardo's research?

  Social roles have a strong influence on individuals behaviour. The guards became aggressive and the prisoners became subdued