Some Key Terms from Last Lesson Conformity Compliance Identification Internalisation Normative Social Influence Can you think of any more? Cognitive dissonance Informational Social Influence Confederates Situational variables Individual Variables

Conformity: the evidence? Describe the studies AimMethod Sample Results / Findings Conclusions Jennes – Jelly Beans Asch – Majority influence. Mori & Arai - Conformity

Study of Majority Influence Asch (1955)

Asch video clip y09nNw y09nNw Shorter version (~2 mins) om/watch?v=TYIh4 MkcfJA&feature=rela ted Longer version (~4 mins) Asch (1955)

Evaluate the studies Strengths  Weaknesses GeneralisabilityReliabilityApplicationValidityEthicsResearch Method. Use GRAVER to develop two strengths and two weaknesses for Asch’s study.

Evaluation Weaknesses  Child of its time – Perrin & Spencer (1980) UK students only 1 in 396 trials conformed. Lacks generalisability? Lacks ecological validity – artificial situation and task. Demand characteristics. Unethical – participants are deceived – participants are psychologically stressed. 2/3 of participants do not conform. Strengths Paradigm of conformity research. Established a scientific procedure. Evaluation of Asch

Contemporary research Mori & Arai (2010) Asch without the actors. To combat the criticism of demand characteristics, this study uses real participants with overlapping filter glasses which change the participants view of the stimulus only. Minority participants answered incorrectly 19.6% of the time compared with control of 8.2%.

Question: What impact would you expect the following to have on levels of conformity? Group SizeUnanimity Task Difficulty Individual Differences Variations

Variations – Size of the Majority Conformity low when majority consisted of one or two With majority of three, conformity rose to 30% Further increases did not substantially increase conformity Group Size

Variations – Unanimity of the Majority When participant was joined by another real participant or disaffected confederate, conformity fell from 32% to 5.5% If the dissenter gave a different wrong answer conformity fell to 9% – Asch concluded: breaking the group’s consensus important to reduce conformity Abu Ghraib – Private Joe Darby Unanimity

Task Difficulty  Differences between the lines were made smaller  Conformity increased  When task is ambiguous we look to other people for guidance INFORMATIONAL SOCIAL INFLUENCE.  Lucas et al. (2006)  Conformity is moderated by self-efficacy of the individual  E.g. When exposed to maths problems, individuals confident in their abilities remained more independent  Demonstrates both situational (task difficulty) and individual differences (self-efficacy) determine conformity Q A B C Task Difficulty

Individual Differences Gender – Do women conform more than men? Mood – Do anxious people conform more than calm people? Culture – Do people from collectivist cultures conform more than those from individualist cultures? Individual Differences

Real-World Applications Conformity in juries – Many jurors would not want to appear to have a different attitude to their fellow jurors  Tanford and Penrod, 1986  1 st vote of the jury determines the outcome 95% of the time  Suggests conformity pressure is a real issue in juries How could this be reduced? Real-World Applications

Quick quiz: 1.What are the three different types of conformity? 2.How many participants were there in Asch’s study? What gender? 3.What percentage of the responses were incorrect? 4.What percentage of the population never conformed? 5.Conformity increased when the line lengths were closer or farther apart? 6.The size of the majority must be more than what for individuals to conform? 7.Do men or women conform more? Plenary Questions

Exam Questions 1.In the context of conformity, explain what psychologists mean by the term identification. (2 marks) 1.One type of conformity is internalisation. Explain what psychologists mean by the term internalisation. (2 marks) 2.Outline normative social influence as an explanation for conformity (2 marks) 3.Internalisation, identification and compliance are all types of conformity. Outline one difference between any two of these. (2 marks) 4.Describe and evaluate informational social influence and normative social influence as explanations for conformity. Refer to evidence in your answer. (12 marks) 1.1 & 1.2 conformity

1.3 Exam Questions 1.One variable that affects conformity is unanimity. Explain what is meant by unanimity in relation to conformity. (2 marks) 2.Apart from unanimity, identify TWO variables that have been shown to affect conformity. Briefly outline how each of these variables affects conformity. Refer to evidence in your answer. (6 marks) 3.Describe Asch’s study of conformity. (6 marks) 4.Describe and evaluate Asch’s research into conformity. (12 marks)

Conformity to Social Roles 1.4 A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison Film Stanford Prison Experiment

Specification 1.1 Types of conformityinternalisation, identification and compliance. 1.2 Explanations for conformityinformational social influence and normative social influence, and variables affecting conformity including group size, unanimity and task difficulty as investigated by Asch. 1.3 Conformity to social rolesinvestigated by Zimbardo Explanations for obedience Agentic state and legitimacy of authority, and situational variables affecting obedience including proximity, location and uniform, as investigated by Milgram. Dispositional explanations for obedience the Authoritarian Personality Explanations of resistance to social influence including social support and locus of control Minority influenceincluding reference to consistency, commitment and flexibility The role of social influence processes in social change application of the above research to examples of social change e.g. suffragettes, Rosenstrasse Protest, racial equality, abolition of slave trade etc

Conformity to Social Roles Key Term: Social Roles- the parts individuals play as members of a social group, which meet the expectations of that situation. Can you think of the social roles you play? – Think about different situations which you experience regularly. – How do you act differently in each situation? – Why is that? Share your answers with a partner. Feedback.

Film Stanford Prison Experiment

Reading Task 1 Skim read the text to find information to answer the following questions. 1.What two hypotheses was Zimbardo investigating? 2.Which hypothesis was the preferred explanation? – You do not need to write the answers, you can highlight the relevant information in the text.

Reading Task 2 Read the text again in detail. Decide if the following statements are true or false. 1.Zimbardo used real criminals male students were used and were paid $13 a day. 3.Dehumanisation was increased by prisoners wearing numbered smocks and the guards wearing reflective sunglasses. 4.Guards and prisoners agreed that their behaviour was typical. 5.According to Zimbardo, individuals conform readily to the social roles demanded of them.

Quick Quiz Quiz Trade Write down five quiz questions about Zimbardo’s study. You do not need to write down the answers. Give your questions to somebody else. You have a few minutes to check you know the answers to the questions you have been given. Find a partner. Quiz your partner. Swap questions and move on to another partner.

Evaluation GRA VER

Evaluation- discuss the questions in pairs Do you think this study was ethical? – Were participants kept safe from harm? Are there individual explanations for the behaviours observed? How was the prison situation similar to real life? How was it different? This experiment was repeated (under slightly different conditions by the BBC). The results were very different. Why is this a problem?

Exam Question Describe and evaluate two studies of social influence. [12 marks] – What are the key words in this question? Describe: Give an account of. Evaluate: Judge from the available evidence. – Which studies could you include?

The Mark Scheme

What to Include: A01 Likely studies include: – Asch – Zimbardo – Other relevant studies Describe the procedure/method, findings and/or conclusions You can also get credit for referring to variations or replications of the original study.

What to Include: A03 The mark scheme refers to effective evaluation. What is that? Two evaluation points per study, that are clearly explained using psychological language. For example: It can be argued that Zimbardo’s simulated prison study lacks reliability. This is because the results have not been replicated. When a similar study (BBC Prison Study) was completed, albeit with different ethical protocols, the results were very different.

Let’s all have a go! Any questions? In the exam you will have about 12 minutes to complete this question, but today you can an extra five minutes. Set the clock. Go!

What have we learned today? What were the key terms from today’s lesson? What is A01? What is A03?

Home Learning Complete the Strengthen your Learning questions on page 15 of the textbook. If you do not have a textbook, then buy one. Make your own notes on Zimbardo’s study and social roles. – What is the best way to do this? How is your folder looking? Is it already a mess? Sort it out. Learn the key terms you have learned so far. Read ahead. You should do this anyway. The next topic will be Obedience and the Work of Milgram. What else can you do in your independent study time? – I will be looking for evidence of independent study next lesson.

Real World (1) Use your knowledge of Zimbardo’s research to explain what happened at Abu Ghraib. /watch?v=LO_ZeYMbEBM

Home Learning 1.Explain what is meant by the term social roles. Use an example to explain the concept. (2 marks) 2.Outline Zimbardo’s research into conformity to social roles. In your answer, refer to what the participants did and what was found. (6 marks) 3.Discuss research into conformity into social roles. (12 marks)