Asch’s Conformity Test

How many participants were there altogether?

123

What demographic were the particpants?

White, American Men

How many confederates were there in each test?

7-9

How often did the participants conform? [%]

33%

How many participants conformed at least once? [%]

75%

How many participants conformed every time? [%]

5%

How many participants in the control group got wrong answers? [%]

1%

Which was the more common reason as to why they conformed, NSI or ISI?

NSI

Name 2 strengths of the experiment

1. High internal validity

2. High internal reliability

Name 2 limitations of the experiment?

1. Gender bias (men only)

2. Lacks ecological viability

3. Participants are from the same area

Name and explain 3 weaknesses of Asch’s results

1. It was a ‘child of it’s time’ so no long-lasting results due to the 1950s being a very conformist era

2. It was very artificial because the participants knew they were in an experiment, so would have been quite likely to behave differently

3. Limited application as only a small demographic was used

4. Only applies to certain situations ; people act hugely different when with strangers compared to friends or family

What did Sogon contribute?

Sogon found that the conformity rate was much higher when the confederates were friends with the participant

What did Spencer and Perrin contribute?

Spencer and Perrin repeated the experiment in the 1980s with students and found the conformity rate was significantly lower

What was the figure for Spencer and Perrin’s conformity rate?

1 conforming response out of 396