Group norms experiment
Sherif, 1936
obj: measure the influence of others opinion as frame
- ask what participants how much did the light move
- in uncertain situatinos, people use opinion of others as a frame of reference to converge to group norm
- group norm persists even when people are alone
Social learning experiment
Bandura, 1963
–> test the learning by vicarious experiment hypothesis
An adult behaves aggresively towards a babo doll
Child is left alone to play in the room
Measure: level of aggression
Bandura study Interpretations
- Confirmed that we learn by vicarious experience
- Once established in childhood, an aggressive response is persistent
- By imitation, a behaviour is likely to repeat itself across generations
Stanford Prison Experiment facts
Zimbardo, 1971
- 24 white males psychologically stable
- Randomly assigned the role of prisoners or guards
- setting done to be as similar as possible to a real prison
Stanford Prison Experiment Interpretation
- No personality factors could explain the behaviours
- Situational factors
- Internalisation of the roles
- Deinviduation (conform to group norms, individual identity less than group identity)
Obedience: experiment description
Milgram experiment 1974 (obj: investigate obedience to authority)
- 20 to 50 years old men
- randomly assigned role of teacher while a confederate was learner
- teacher had to learner’s knowledge under different conditiosn
–> 65% obedience
Obedience experiment - facotrs which influence obedience
In Milgram but completed with Hogg & Vaughan in 2014
- Victim unseen but heard
- Experimenter giving orders in the room
- in a university
- no peer pressure
- in the USA
Influence of a minority study
Moscovici experiment 1969
obj: investigate influence of a minority
- take part in an experiment of a colour perception
Influence of a minority study - result
- Higher number of errors (people who answered greeen when it was blue) when the minority was consistent
Conformity experiment
Asch experiment 1951
- male unviersity students
- take part in a visual discrimination task with different lenghts of line
–> average conformity rate 33%
Process of conformity
- Normative influence : person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval, wants to fit in
- informational influence: pressure to conform to a group norm
