Psych 160: Lecture 4

1/31/08

Asch o retain personal view but social influence changes statements about it o Objects to Sherifs study philosophical have objective perception uses of autokinetic effect exaggerates social influence no real stimulus no personal investment o Control Condition: line judgment study (1950s) task: given a line to match to one of 3 others 1st study: 1 real, 6 confederates 18 judgments made 15/18 times the confederates say the wrong answer 99% on their own, the answer is right 75% conform at least once 37% of all judgments the participant abandons truth and goes with wrong group answer follow-up studies number of confederates 3+ confederates lead to conformity dissent build in one person with different opinion prior commitment more resistant to persuasion (8% from 37%) high status people more conformity conformity rates declining over the years Milgram o Motives for studies didnt believe Asch amped up consequences concern about the rise of fascism Nazism (Banality of Evil essay by Hannah Arendt) can take any person and put them in a similar situation o Study at Yale, told as punishment effects in learning participants between 20-50 years old random drawing for teacher/participant participant given sample shock participants get uneasy but continue anyway Milgram didnt think people would continue o Findings 25/40 went all the way to 450V thought only 4% would go all the way o Situationism institutional prestige obey authority responsibility on the experimenter escalating commitment/psychological entrapment no exit situation Fundamental attribution error over-exaggerate the attribution of actions to individuals without consideration of situation