asch varied task difficulty

Question 1

what are the variables that affect conformity ?

Answer 1

• group size
• unanimity
• task difficulty

Question 2

what did asch change in the group size variation of his research ?

Answer 2

• varied the number of confederates from 1,2,3,4,8 and 16

Question 3

what was the conformity rate with only 1 confederate compared to original ?

Answer 3

• original = 32% overall in critical trials
• conformity after = 3%

Question 4

what was the conformity rate with 2 confederates ?

Answer 4

• 13%

Question 5

when did conformity rates jump significantly ?
what was the conformity rate ?

Answer 5

• with 3 confederates
• 33%

Question 6

what happened past 3 confederates ?

Answer 6

• adding more confederates had no further effect

Question 7

what did the findings from group size variation suggest ?

Answer 7

• suggested that the presence of a small unanimous group has a strong social pressure
• but beyond a certain point group size does not increase the pressure

Question 8

what did asch change in the unanimity variation of his study ?

Answer 8

• he had a confederate break the groups unanimity and respond correctly

Question 9

what happened to the conformity rates in the unanimity variation ?

Answer 9

• they dropped to 5.5%

Question 10

what did the unanimity variation suggest ?

Answer 10

• that the presence of a dissenter provides social support

Question 11

what did asch change in his task difficulty variation ?

Answer 11

• he repeated the experiment with smaller differences between the line lengths
• making the task more ambiguous

Question 12

what happened to the rate in the task difficulty variation ?

Answer 12

• conformity rate increased

Question 13

what did asch argue is the reason for the results of the task difficulty variation ?

Answer 13

• because ps were more uncertain about their judgements
• isi was the dominant force as they looked to others for guidance