Asch Conformity Experiment (1/2)

Asch conformity experiments
The Asch conformity experiments were a series of studies published in the 1950s that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. These are also known as the "Asch Paradigm".

Introduction
Experiments led by Solomon Asch asked groups of students to participate in a "vision test." In reality, all but one of the participants were confederates of the experimenter, and the study was really about how the remaining students would react to the confederates' behavior.

Method
In the basic Asch paradigm, the participants — the real subjects and the confederates — were all seated in a classroom. They were asked a variety of questions about the lines such as how long is A, compare the length of A to an everyday object, which line was longer than the other, which lines were the same length, etc. The group was told to announce their answers to each question out loud. The confederates always provided their answers before the study participant, and always gave the same answer as each other. They answered a few questions correctly but eventually began providing incorrect responses.
In a control group, with no pressure to conform to an erroneous view, only one subject out of 35 ever gave an incorrect answer. Solomon Asch hypothesized that the majority of people would not conform to something obviously wrong; however, when surrounded by individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, participants provided incorrect responses on a high proportion of the questions (32%). Seventy-five percent of the participants gave an incorrect answer to at least one question.

Results
Variations of the basic paradigm tested how many confederates were necessary to induce conformity, examining the influence of just 1 confederate and as many as 15 confederates. Results indicate that 1 confederate has virtually no influence and 2 confederates have only a small influence. When 3 or more confederates are present, the tendency to conform is relatively stable.
The unanimity of the confederates has also been varied. When the confederates are not unanimous in their judgment, even if only 1 confederate voices a different opinion, participants are much more likely to resist the urge to conform than when the confederates all agree. This finding illuminates the power that even a small dissenting minority can have. Interestingly, this finding holds whether or not the dissenting confederate gives the correct answer. As long as the dissenting confederate gives an answer that is different from the majority, participants are more likely to give the correct answer.
One difference between the Asch conformity experiments and the Milgram experiment as carried out by Stanley Milgram (also famous in social psychology) is that the subjects of these studies attributed their performance to their own misjudgment and "poor eyesight", while those in the Milgram experiment blamed the experimenter in explaining their behavior. Conformity may be much less salient than authority pressure.
The Asch experiments may provide some vivid empirical evidence relevant to some of the ideas raised in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (see 2 + 2 = 5). This also helps illustrate the concept of "point at a deer and call it a horse" (simplified Chinese: 指鹿为马; traditional Chinese: 指鹿為馬) that was made infamous by Zhao Gao.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments

Category:

Education

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• Asch
• conformity
• Experiment
• Paradigm
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[brettdawg]

i am clicking like cause 27 others liked it and only 1 disliked

[Emanresu56]

This should be taught and explained to children.

[ValmisFilm]

thats how Islam and other religons work

[TheClarko1234]

haha check the dude with the Gers strip!!

[erasmusso]

I felt the pressure to conform and post a comment

[poweroftheatom]

@wartornpanda 'its not the smartest or strongest of the species that service but the ones that are more responsive to change' Charles Darwin

[cammy8]

Glasgow Rangers Champions

[nonaCbarC]

:D

The moral of this experimentation is that we are a collective. In the mean time you are talking about certain differences among ppl, i.e. individuality.

´´In math classes´´

:D It seems that you are talking about high school math classes or perhaps up to 1st or 2nd yr college classes. If you go beyond 2nd yr, particularly pure math depts, then there is no followers, since they don´t make to the 3rd yr. :D The world might be a bit larger than one can comprehend. :D

Cheers, Bro.

[nonaCbarC]

@fringeelements

:D

I didn´t know that you were an evangelist. LOL

Cheers, Bro.

[fringeelements]

If this is true, then smart humans should form herds among themselves just as readily as average humans do.

And their superior ability to rationalize may allow smarter people to sustain delusions longer than less intelligent people.

[fringeelements]

Apes will go along with apes, but an average human would have no trouble contradicting the apes and wouldn't think "maybe there's something wrong with me".

Similarly, a smart human would easily contradict a group of average humans, but a smart human may not contradict other smart humans anymore than an ape would contradict other apes, or an average human would contradict another average human.

In math classes I recall the majority of students deferring to a few or one exceptional individual(s)