Psychology - Social Influence

Social Influence

The process by which individuals and groups change each other’s attitudes and behaviours.

Conformity

A change in a person’s behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of people. Can be permanent or temporary, and can be public and/or private

Asch’s Baseline Study

Group of 5-7 participants. One is naive, the rest are confederates (actors). The actors all say the wrong answer. Will the participant conform and also say the wrong answer? They have to identify which lines match up. Seems easy.

Extraneous Variables

Uncontrollable variables in an experiment that have the capacity to affect the dependent variables.

Demand Characteristics

Cues within an experiment that suggest to participants what the study’s purpose or hypothesis is.

Ecological Validity

Measures how well research findings and experimental set-ups reflect real-world situations and everyday life.

Population Validity

How far the results of a research study's sample can be generalized to the broader target population the study aims to represent.

Temporal Validity

How far the results of a research study's sample can be generalized to the broader target population the study aims to represent.

Informed consent

Participants are given complete information about the experiment.

Deception

The deliberate act of misleading someone into believing something that isn’t true.

Protection

Preventing the participants from physical or mental stress during the experiment; they should not be exposed to anything that they wouldn’t experience in their everyday life.