Solomon Asch Conformity Experiments (1951) Essay

In 1932, Jenness conducted the first study of conformity. The experiment was ambiguous as there was no right or wrong answer. The study focused on the participants' estimates on the number of beans in a bottle. Firstly, Jenness asked his participants to individually estimate the number of beans. He then gathered the group and got them to examine the contents. Finally, the researcher once again asked individuals for an estimate and observed that nearly all the individuals changed their original estimates to be closer to the group estimate, therefore showing a level of conformity.

Having read of Asch’s and Miligrams experiments in the past I still find it surprising how many of the participants obeyed or conformed to social pressures. Each experiment essentially comes to the same conclusion that people tend to obey authoritative figures and conform when they are under pressure. Although not all participants obeyed or conformed in each experiment a large majority did. Asch’s experiment seemed very simple, guessing which line was longer, but evolved into something very complex in regards to uncovering how people conform to certain situations. One would assume that although others may choose a line that is obviously incorrect the subject would choose the correct answer and stick to it. People in general conform to all types of situations, whether in school, home or work.

So Dr. Asch asked, did the people who gave in to the group do so knowing that their answers was wrong? Or did the social pressure actually change their perceptions?. To answer the question I believe it was social pressure that changed their perceptions, I believe that these participants were influenced by their fellow peers, which encouraged them to follow their peers and changed their thoughts and reality of the real answer. The articles goes on speaking about conformity and a new study that was being researched on perception. “The new study tried to find an answer by using functional M.R.I scanners that can peer into the working brain, a technology not available to Dr. Asch.” As stated in the article, the researcher found that social conformity showed up in the brain as activity in regions that are entirely devoted to perception. And our independent judgment was found in our emotional activity in the brain, this is significant because it makes sense that the conformity would associate itself with the area of the brain that deal with perception. Because as I said before conformity is rules and standards made by society, people can change and shape our perception in a very significant way. But it takes our emotions to stand up against that group and have our own independent judgment. Now In this new research, they used 32 volunteers and informed them that they’ll be in the M.R.I scanner. They were asking to rotate images of three-dimensional objects to

Salomon E. Asch in his essay “Opinions and Social Pressure” conducted an experiment to determine effects of group pressure towards an individual and concluded that there is a very strong tendency to conformity even when doing so conflicting with their own senses of morality. In the experiment a group of young students have to compare length of lines on two different sheets of paper. On one of them there is a sample single line and on the other one there are three lines only one of which is same size as the sample line from the first sheet. People taking part in this experiment are instructed to point at lines that are the same length. At first, during the experiment the group is

In Solomon E. Asch’s social pressure experiment, subjects were shown a line on a piece of paper and instructed to choose a line of the same length on a different piece of paper with two other lines of varying lengths. All but one of the subjects in each experiment group were instructed to choose the wrong answer on purpose, unbeknownst to the last member. The last member of the group, who did not know

Asch’s experiment was performed in 1951 and is now a classic experiment in psychology. Asch asked individuals a simple question and a high percentage answered correctly. Then Asch placed a participant in a room with seven actors who had predetermined incorrect answers. When asked in front of the group, 75% of people would give incorrect answers clearly because of they conformed to the actors around them. Asch then concluded that it is natural for one to conform to society in order to fit

Solomon Asch tested conformity at Swarthmore College in 1951 by putting a participant in a group of people whose task was to match line lengths. Each individual was expected to announce which of three lines was the closest in length to a reference line. But the participant was placed in a group of actors, who were all told to give the correct answer twice then switch to each saying the same incorrect answer. Asch wanted to see whether the participant would conform and start to give the wrong answer as well, knowing that he would otherwise be a single outlier.

The acts of conforming and obeying shape us significantly, whether we are conscious of it or not. They do so in ways that psychologists Solomon Asch and Stanley Milgram attempt to explain through their research. Asch touches base on the topic of conformity and discusses the ways in which group behaviors and social norms can influence the decisions an individual makes. On the other hand, Milgram’s focus is on obedience, and he studied it by measuring average, everyday people and their willingness to obey authority figures, even if it involves actions that go against their personal beliefs and morals. They have provided evidence through experiments, and with this information, it becomes easier to understand the world of politics, and how these

Despite the participants’ feelings of being uneasy after hearing screams from the other room, they all continue with the experiment after the conductor instructs them to. Having the conductor of the experiment in the

Conformity refers to the likelihood that an individual will follow the unspoken rules or behaviors of the social group to which they belong. In the short video clip titled “Asch Conformity Experiment”, we learned that people can feel pressured into abnormal behavior because of the unanimity of the majority.

Solomon Asch 's (1951) conformity experiment is the study of people adapting their behaviours in order to follow the social normalities. This experiment entails a group of people who are actors and know about the experiment, and one person who is unknowing of the experiment, which are all in the same room. The group is shown a pair of cards; card A has a line on the card, and card B has three lines varying in length on the card, the similarities of the lines are obvious. The group individually, saying out loud picks one of the three lines on card B that matches the length of the line on card A. Everybody picks the correct line, this happens for a few rounds, then when shown another pair of cards the first actor chooses the wrong line on card B. The rest of the actors choose the same line the first actor chose, this tests to see if the unknowing participant will choose the same answer as the group (McLeod, 2008). The person who is unknowing of the

Asch’s experiment was designed to study the cause and extent to which an individual will conform within a given group setting. Using the inductive experimental method Asch observed the group in a controlled setting where he was able to manipulate the independent variable (the amount of group pressure) to observe the effects of the dependent variable (the conformity of the participant). The purpose of his experiment was to understand which aspect of the influence of a majority is more influential—the size of the majority or its unanimity (how much they agree vs. the individual)? This brings upon the subject two opposed forces: the evidence of their senses and the unanimous opinion of a majority group. To do this the subjects had to declare

These results have led to many other ground-breaking discoveries about the human brain. While it may seem as though the individuals are conforming only to fit in with the group further studies suggest that in fact the brain is changing the person’s perception to fit it with the other’s. This has led scientists to believe that the human brain would rather take shortcuts, or cheat if you will, rather than forming its own opinion. In this experiment Asch’s results suggest that our brain uses a shortcut known as the Law of Large numbers, meaning that if more than a few people give one answer, even when it is the wrong one, our brain will convince us that our answer is wrong (Robbins 151).

The “teacher” (who had no clue about the experiment) was given direct orders in which he had to carry out. The “learner “gave mainly wrong answers (on purpose) and for each of these the teacher gave him an electric shock. When the teacher refused to administer a shock the experimenter was to give a series of orders / prods to ensure they continued (Milgram Experiment, Simply Psychology). Some teachers were reluctant and questioned but still went ahead and followed the orders regardless of how uncomfortable they felt, while other teachers had no qualms about the incidents

The Asch Experiments were a series of studies that demonstrated the power of conformity in groups. The Asch experiment was concocted by Solomon Asch and was a famous psychological experiment that was designed to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform. The experiment also shows that one voice can make a difference amongst others. The experiments were made up of “visions tests” where study participants were found to be more likely to conform to obviously wrong answers if first given by other participants. In the case study, the group was consists of all but one person that was working for Asch (confederates) to test how the remaining student would react to their wrong answer.