1. Social influence
Asch(1951)

2. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Decide whether each of the following statements are true or false.

3. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Following fashion is an example of conformity to a majority.

4. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Informational influence is when we conform to be liked

5. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Informational influence tends to lead to internalisation.

6. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Compliance is when we experience an attitude change publicly, but not privately.

7. To Start: Fact or Fib?
Tipping a waiter in a restaurant when you don’t agree with it is an example of compliance resulting from normative influence.

8. Summary
Informational (ISI): If we are uncertain about if something is right or wrong. It’s a cognitive process and if we believe that the majority are correct then we are likely to internalise.
Normative (NSI): Where we conform to the norms of typical behaviour of a social group. It’s an emotional process rather than cognitive. We comply only to prevent rejection.

9. Today we will take this further by considering…
Understand: To describe APFC of Asch’s study on conformity.
Apply: To explain what Asch’s results suggest on conformity.
Evaluate: To discuss strengths and weaknesses of Asch’s study on conformity.

10. Jenness (1932) A
To see whether individual judgments of jellybeans in a jar was influenced by group discussion P
Ps asked for private judgements of how many jellybeans in the jar
Allowed to then discuss estimates either: large group OR smaller groups
After discussion, group estimates given
Asked to then provide a second private judgement R
Opinion increased – the second private estimate was more similar to group estimate. Larger conformity in women C
Majority opinions influence judgements in ambiguous / unfamiliar situations

11. Sherif (1935) The Autokinetic effect
On the next slide is a light. The light will move and you have to say in which way it is moving.

13. Sherif (1935)
The autiokinetic effect is when a stationary spot of light appears to move due to small movements of the eye
Sherif told participants to estimate by how far the spot of light had moved.
Asked individually
Then exposed to the estimates of two other participants
Estimates tended to converge to a group norm which was an average of these individuals’ estimates.

14. Issues with the research
Sherif and other researchers used ambiguous situations to investigate conformity.
Little known about conformity in non-ambiguous situations

15. Asch (1951) ‘Lines’
Question: Is this an example of normative or informational social influence?
Give a justification for your answer

16. Writing up a study in Psychology
When we describe a piece of research you need to ‘Always Proceed Really Carefully’ we need to cover the ‘APRC’
Aim – Consider what  the researcher was trying to find out.
Procedure – How did the researcher conduct the research? What did they do? What did they control? What materials did they use? What did they standardise? What did the ppts do? How did they collect their data?
Results – These are usually always some kind of number , sometimes this is presented as a fraction or a decimal or a percentage.
Conclusion  – Having considered the aim and analysed the results what conclusion can be drawn? The conclusion does not include any numbers

17. Aim
Investigate the effects of group pressure on individuals in unambiguous situations.
When confronted with an obviously incorrect answer, would individuals give an answer which perpetuated this error (conformed) or would they give an independent response?
He also aimed to investigate the effect of various factors on the rate of conformity

18. Procedure
Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity, whereby 50 male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a ‘vision test.’
Using a line judgment task, Asch put a naive participant in a room with seven confederates/stooges. The confederates had agreed in advance what their responses would be when presented with the line task.
The real participant did not know this and was led to believe that the other seven confederates/stooges were also real participants like themselves.
Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B or C) was most like the target line. The answer was always obvious.  The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his or her answer last.
There were 18 trials in total, and the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 trails (called the critical trials).  Asch was interested to see if the real participant would conform to the majority view.
Asch's experiment also had a control condition where there were no confederates, only a "real participant."

19. The baseline study
Question: why do we have a control group in psychological research?
Findings for the baseline study
In a control study carried out before this experiment, it was found that less than 1% of people made errors when carrying out this task when by themselves.
What does this suggest about the line estimating task?

20. Findings of Asch (1951) study
What were the findings:
Draw on board 10 faces (No. underneath how many trials did they conform to)
10ps all take part in 10 critical trials
How many critical trials did they conform to?
How many instances of conformity were there?
What percentage conformed on every trial

21. Findings of Asch (1951) study
32% was the basic conformity rate (total no. of critical trials)
26% of P’s did not conform on any critical trials
74% of P’s conformed at least once
5% of P’s conformed on every critical trial

22. After interviewing participants he found they conformed for one of three reasons:
Distortion of perception: A small number of participants came to see the lines in the same way as the majority.
Distortion of judgement: They were doubtful/unsure of their own judgement. Doubted own vision
Distortion of Action: Most participants continued to privately think differently from the group, but changed their public answer to avoid disapproval? Didn’t want to look like a fool and be different

23. Those who did not conform…
Asch states “Those who strike out on the path to independence, do not, as a rule, succumb to the majority”.
confidence in their own judgment
capacity to recover from doubt
felt it was “their obligation to call the play as they saw it”

24. Conclusions
The results from both the baseline study and the variations suggest that there is a strong tendency to conform to group pressures, even in an unambiguous situation.

25. Attachment mock feedback
Re-sits: Monday lunch time (4th March)

26. Outline Bowlby’s theory of maternal deprivation. (4)
Bowlby’s use of the term ‘deprivation’
Effects on development – intellectual, emotional, social, e.g. affectionless psychopathy, delinquency, low IQ
Critical period – an issue if prolonged separation, if before two and half years (but risk up to 5 years) and if no substitute available
Internal working model – this can lead to inability to be a good parent
Continuity hypothesis – if there are prolonged separations then there may be issues into adulthood.

27. The Strange Situation can be used to identify a child’s attachment type. Explain how the behaviour of a child showing insecure-avoidant attachment type would be different from the behaviour of a child showing insecure-resistant attachment type. (4)
Separation behaviour – insecure avoidant seem unconcerned when mother leaves, whereas insecure resistant show intense distress.
Reunion behaviour – insecure avoidant show little reaction when the mother comes back, whereas insecure resistant may cling to their mother, but show ambivalent behaviour towards her.

28. Describe one way in which psychologists have investigated caregiver-infant interaction in humans. Refer to a specific study in your answer. (3)
Meltzoff and Moore (1977) support the concepts of reciprocity and interactional synchronicity.
They used 4 different stimuli; adults displayed one of three facial expressions and a hand gesture and the child’s response was filmed and identified by independent observers who had no knowledge of what the children had just seen.
The behavioural catergories were mouth opening, termination of mouth opening, tongue protrusion, termination of tongue protrusion.
Each observer scored the tapes twice so that inter-observer reliability could be calculated. All scores were greater than .92.

29. Evaluate the way of investigating caregiver-infant interaction that you have described in your answer to part (a). Do not refer to ethical issues in your answer. (3)
Meltzoff and Moore conducted an observation of mother-infant interactions to measure reciprocity and interactional synchrony. Observations are generally well controlled procedures, both mother and child were filmed from multiple angles. This ensures very fine details of behaviour can be recorded and later analysed and improves the validity of the research and the use of independent observers improves the reliabilty of the research. Infants don’t know or care that they are being observed so their behaviour doesn’t change in a controlled observation which is generally a problem for observational research. This is a strength as means the research has good validity. However the behaviour of the mother may be subject to demand characteristics.

30. Continuity in quality/type of relationship across generations.
When Max was born, his mother gave up work to stay at home and look after him. Max’s father works long hours and does not have much to do with the day-to-day care of his son. Max is now nine months old and he seems to have a very close bond with his mother. Use learning theory to explain how Max became attached to his mother rather than to his father (Total 6 marks)
Attachment to primary caregiver provides child with internal working model of relationships (Bowlby)
Abi’s secure childhood relationships would have ensured a positive internal working model
The model represents/gives a mental view of relationship with primary figure and acts as a template for future relationships
Continuity in quality/type of relationship across generations.
Abi’s understanding of relationships has been carried forward so she now has positive secure relationships with her two children
Abi’s children use their internal working model of the relationship they have with their mother to inform their interactions with other children – so they make friends easily and are confident

31. Using research, outline the role of the father (2)
Grossman (2002): play not nurture
Grossman has suggested that the father has a different, unique role in attachment-one that is more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing. A longitudinal study was carried out looking at parent’s behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment in their teens. It was the quality of the mother’s attachment and not the fathers that was related to attachment in their teens but the quality of fathers play with infants was related.
So this evidence shows that the father is still important in a child’s development and their role does impact on the quality of their attachments in their teenage years but through play and not nurturing and being the primary attachment figure.

32. HOWEVER There is evidence that contradicts the idea that fathers can play the same role as mothers successfully.
Golombok (2004) have found that children growing up in a single or same sex parent household do not develop any differently and so questions the importance of the role of the father in attachment.
Field (1978): level of responsiveness not gender Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers. They found that primary caregiver fathers like mothers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers and that this behaviour is important in the building of attachments. This is suggesting the father is as capable as the mother of being a sensitive and caring primary caregiver if given the chance and that it is the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the parent that is the key to the attachment relationship.

33. Research circles Meltzoff and Moore Shaffer and Emerson Ainsworth
Role of the father research
Rutter
Bowlby 44 Juvenille thieves
Van Izendoorm and Kroonenberg
Lorenz
Harlow
Hazan and Shaver

34. Starter: match up activity
Asch variations
Starter: match up activity

35. Evaluation of Asch (1951) study
GRAVE
Mind-map different evaluation points

36. Evaluation of Asch’s study
Formulate an evaluation of Asch’s study of conformity by finishing off the statements on the next slide. Make sure that you fully explain your points. Make sure you are aware of whether each point supports or challenges the research. Link the point to one of the GRAVE categories

37. Evaluation points
Asch’ study uses a trivial situation. Judging the length of a line is not something that the majority of people are going to feel very strongly about. Therefore, we might find that… However, Asch’s research is a highly controlled piece of research….
Asch used an all male sample in his research. This is a problem because…..Furthermore, it may be criticised for lacking temporal validity…
This study breaks one ethical guideline……..
Validity

38. Asch’ study uses a trivial situation
Asch’ study uses a trivial situation. Judging the length of a line is not something that the majority of people are going to feel very strongly about. Therefore, it can be argued that his study lacks ecological validity as it is difficult to generalise the findings to everyday situations where consequences of conformity are important. However, Asch’s research is a highly controlled piece of research. Asch used an experimental method and ensured that each participant received the same standardised instructions, same number of critical trials and that they were last or second to last to answer. This is a strength as it allows the research to be replicated to see whether individuals are likely to conform to an obviously correct answer.

39. It can be argued that Asch’s research lacked population validity
It can be argued that Asch’s research lacked population validity. Asch used a biased sample of 50 male college students in his research. This means that we cannot generalise the findings to other populations. For example, this is a problem because it does not tell us how women would act, therefore the conclusions are only relevant for males. As a result Asch’s sample lacks population validity and further research is required to determine whether males ad females conform differently.
Furthermore, Asch’s research may lack temporal validity. Asch study was conducted in 1951 whereby people in America would have conformed more than they might have done in the subsequent decades. This is a limitation as it might not explain why people conform now.

40. Extension
Asch’s research is ethically questionable. He broke severalethical guidelines, including: deception and protection from harm. Asch deliberately deceived his participants, saying that they were taking part in a vision test and not an experiment on conformity. Although it is seen as unethical to deceive participants, Asch’s experiment required deception in order to achieve valid results. If the participants were aware of the true aim they would have displayed demand characteristics and acted differently. In addition, Asch’s participants were not protected from psychological harm and many of the participants reporting feeling stressed when they disagreed with the majority. However, Asch interviewed all of his participants following the experiment to overcome this issue.

41. Describe and Evaluate Asch’s research into conformity (12 marks)
Plan: exam question
Describe and Evaluate Asch’s research into conformity (12 marks)

42. Factors that affect conformity
Group size
Unanimity
Difficulty of task
Teacher led
Activity:
Group size size (activity) 1 volunteer (stand up: how many maximum conformity (3) Keep standing up. Stop when conformity decreases (15)
Unanimity: students in group find which card from each pack is right
Difficulty of task:

43. How many zebras are in this picture?

45. How many cows are in this picture?
How many students changed their answer on the second estimate in each condition?
There should be more conformity hence more change in the 2nd condition because the task is harder

47. Asch: Difficulty of the task
Asch made the line lengths closer together and therefore the task harder.
In Asch’s original experiment, the correct answer was always obvious. In one his variations he made the task more difficult, by making the difference between the line lengths significantly smaller.
In this variation Asch found the rate of conformity increased, although he didn’t report the percentage.
This is likely to be the result of informational social influence, as individuals look to another for guidance when completing the task, similar to the results found in Jenness’ experiment.

48. Asch: Difficulty of the task
In addition Lucas et al (2006) found that increasing the task difficulty was influenced by the self efficacy of the individual.
Participants were exposed to maths problems in a similar experiment to Asch’s.
Those participants who were more confident in their abilities were less likely to conform, even when task difficulty was high.
Majority influence is dependent upon situational factors (task difficulty) and individual differences.

49. Asch: Size of the Majority
Asch carried out many variations to determine how the size of the majority, affects the rate of conformity. These variations ranged from 1 confederate to 15 confederates, and the level of conformity varied dramatically.
When there was one confederate, the real participants conformed on just 3% of the critical trials.
When the group size increased to two confederates, the real participants conformed on 13% of the critical trials. Interestingly,
when there were three confederates, the real participants conformed on 33% of the critical trials, the same percentage as Asch’s original experiment, in which there were seven confederates.
BUT further increases did not increase the levels of conformity. Size of the majority is important but only up to an optimal point.

50. Asch: Unanimity of the Majority
In Asch’s original experiment, the confederates all gave the same incorrect answer.
In one variation of Asch’s experiment, one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout.
In this variation the rate of conformity dropped to 5%. This demonstrates that if the real participant has support for their belief, then they are likely more likely to resist the pressure to conform.
Furthermore, in another variation, one of the confederates gave a different incorrect answer to the majority. In this variation conformity still dropped significantly, by this time to 9%. This shows that if you break the group’s unanimous position, then conformity is reduced, even if the answer provided by the supporter, is still incorrect.
He concluded that breaking the group’s consensus was one of the main influences in conformity.

51. Task: What factors influence conformity?
Asch changed a number of conditions in his study to see if conformity levels went up, down or stayed the same.
Look at the different conditions or changes on your worksheet.
Decide for each one – would conformity levels go up, down or stay the same.
Be prepared to justify your answers!

52. Task: Just a minute!
Each of you will have just 1 minute to say everything that you have learnt about so far in social influence
If you stop, pause, hesitate or get something wrong then we move on to the next person.

53. Some students are celebrating the end of their exams by having a night out. They have been in the pub all evening and are now discussing which nightclub to go on to. Imogen prefers Rotting Flesh but the majority of the group wants to go to Scar Tissue.
Your Task: Briefly explain how each of the following factors might affect whether or not Imogen conforms to the majority. a) Group Size b) Unanimity