Flashcards
Social influence: Topic 1 Conformity (studies)
Cards in this deck (16)
- 1What is Myers definition of conformity?A change in behaviour or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure (Myers 1999).
-shows people will go along with others not because they are told to but because they feel they need to follow group "norm" - 2How did psychologists explore conformity in the early 1930s?They asked people to estimate how many beans were in a jar. People were asked to guess the number of beans and were then asked to discuss this with others. Once asked again the estimates were much closer together.
- 3What was the Asch (1951) Study method?-wanted to find out if people conform even if the task is easy
-123 college students had to say which of the three alternative lines matched the standard line
-tested in small groups only 1 real naive participant all the others were confederates and real participant always sat towards end of row
-18 tasks and for 12 confederates gave same wrong answer - 4What were the findings of the Asch study?-average conformity rate of 37%
-on average 74% of participants conformed at least once
-26% never conformed to answers given - 5What conclusion was come to after the Asch study?-People will conform even in simple tasks and go along with others in the group even if it means denying what they see themselves. 3 main reasons for this; participants came to see lines as confederates did,did not trust there own judgement or trusted public answer to avoid disapproval
- 6Name a methodological strength of the Asch study?It was a well controlled investigation meaning extraneous variables were kept to a minimum.. means results obtained were more reliable and trustworthy (scientific)
- 7Name a methodological weakness of the Asch study?lack of ecological validity- controlled studies tend to be artificial and unrelated to everyday life-not a real life conformity situation
- 8Name a methodological weakness of the Asch study?unrepresentative sample- made up of American University male so this means that the result should not be generalised to other people beyond those in the sample
- 9Name a Ethical strength of the Asch study?People knew they were taking part in the study and had given consent
- 10Name a Ethical weakness of the Asch study?Deception and Anxiety- Participants did not know what the studies were actually about so they may have experienced these things
- 11What was a major criticism of the Asch study?His use of confederates- they may not have behaved in a natural manor so the real participant may have realised what was going on
- 12How did Mori annd Arai solve these criticisms?Adapted the Mori technique ( Manipulation of overlapping rivalrous images by polarizing filters) used previously in eyewitness research. They used filter glasses so participants view the same display but can see different things
- 13What was the method for the mori and arai (2010) experiment ?Replicated Aschs line comparison task with 104 participants tested in groups of 4 at a time( on successive trials participants said aloud which line matched). 3 participants had the same glasses one had different so there were no longer confederates. Participants were also given a questionnaire to complete so researchers could see the factors that made them conform
- 14What were the findings for the mori and arai (2010) experiment ?This study involved both men and women..
women-the new findings closely matched the original research, with the minority participant being influenced by the majority on average of 4.41 times out of 12(original 3.44 times)
men- were not affected by majority view and conformity rates were very low - 15What are the possible reasons for men not conforming?cultural difference-study conducted in Japan and generational changes
-participants in this study knew eachother whereas in Aschs they didnt - 16Why is mori and arais research seen as more useful?-conforming behaviour among acquaintances is more important as a psychological research topic than conformity among strangers
-conformity generally takes place among friends and family
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- A level Psychology Flashcards on Social influence: Topic 1 Conformity (studies), created by Ella Stokes on 14/10/2018.
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- Ella Stokes
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