Asch 1955; Procedures

Research was an observation carried out under controlled conditions.
Sample
1. 123 naïve (true) pps collected by volunteer sampling
2. They were all male from 3 USA colleges
Placing 1 true pp into a group of 7-9 confederates
The research involved;
Seating them second to last in the row so they can hear the answers of the confederates
Showing the pps a series of lines - a standard line and 3 separate lines (all with difference of between 3/4 of an inch and 1"3/4
Asking pps to match the standard line to one of the 3 lines, where the answer was always obvious, aloud in front of others.
There were 18 trials for each group and on 12 "critical" trials, all the confederates called out the wrong answer.
Asch introduced some variations 1) He vaired the size of the confederate group from 1 - 15 2) He allowed one confederate to always answer truthfully. 3) A confederate who gave wrong, but different answers to other confederates
He also interviewed pps to see why they conformed
Ethical Issues
1. Debreifed his pps and explained the true purpose of his research

Resource summary

	Created by oliviaclifton almost 10 years ago