Asch - PEC

3 limitations of Asch (1951)

Biased sample of 123 American males

Low external validity

Child of its time

Limitation of Asch (1951) - Biased sample of 123 American males

P: Used a biased sample of 123 American males

E: Can't generalise to whole population eg: female students

I+D: Shows beta bias

C: Asch lacks population validity

Limitation of Asch (1951) - Low external validity

P: Low external validity

E: Line judgement task doesn't reflect real life

C: Can't generalise due to lack of application to real life

Limitation of Asch (1951) - Criticised for being a child of its time

P: Criticised for being a child of its time

E: Done at a time when conformity in US was high. Perrin + Spencer (1980) replicated with lower results in engineer students

C: Asch's findings lack temporal validity because Perrin + Spencer (1980) suggest conformity changed over time

What does Asch (1951) lack?

Temporal validity

Why does Asch (1951) lack Temporal validity?

Perrin + Spencer (1980) replicated it in engineer students and found lower levels of conformity