In Asch\'s (1951) study, a group of students gathered in a room to take part in
ID: 3484465 • Letter: I
Question
In Asch's (1951) study, a group of students gathered in a room to take part in what was described as a study of visual discrimination. They were shown a single line and then three comparison lines. Their task was to say which of the three comparison lines matched the standard. Here's an example: A B C Exhibir1 Edhiir 2 There were seven people in the group in one experiment, but there was only one real subject The other six were confederates of the experimenter, or assistants. The situation was arranged so that the real subject always responded with his or her answer next to last, after five other "subjects" had already given their judgments. Everyone responded out loud, so that the rest of the group knew each person's response. There were 18 trials; in each case, one comparison line was equal to the standard. The confederates were instructed to give the correct answer on 6 of the trials but a consistently wrong answer on 12 trials. The question of interest was whether the real subject in the procedure would conform to the group judgment and go against his or her own perceptions. Most did conform on 1 or more of the 12 trials. A control group was also used, in which the confederates did not make any errors; under these conditions, only 5 percent of the real subjects made an error. Use the back of the page to answer the questions below 1. Describe three ways the study could be altered to provide more information about conformity. 2. What would your hypothesis be for each of your proposed studies? you think the study would turn out? In other words, how doExplanation / Answer
First way: In many of the trials, it is very obvious which line matches with the standard line, as the difference between the correct and incorrect line is clear. Instead, the answers could be made less obvious, by reducing the differeces in line sizes, so that the subject finds themselves in pressure, and starts to think whether their answer is wrong. If this is done, the subject will start to consider the opnions of others more strongly and is more likely to conform.
Second: The confederates can show signs of dissapproval with the subject by acting surprised, giggling, or just staring at the subject, when the subject does not conform to the wrong answer. The subject may start to feel awkward and out of place. When the subject is not getting signs of approval from others, they may want to belong to the group, and may conform.
Third: The experement could be arranged in such a way, where, the confederated unaniomously select the wrong answers on very few occasions, and most of their answers are right. This way, the subject may assume that the confederates are not making mistakes, but when they actually do, the subject may think that they are saying the right answer and may conform.