Describe and Evaluate Asch's research into conformity. (16 marks)

A 16 mark question is divided into 6 marks for AO1 and 10 marks for AO3. AO1 involves describing and outlining the study or theory. In this case, you should outline the key features of Asch's study:How many participantsWhat they were asked to do (say which line out of A, B or C is the same length and a separate line X)Outline the manipulations - the participant was part of a group of 7-8 other confederates who would give the wrong answer.Outline the findings - out of 18 trials, the naive participants gave the wrong answer 36.8% of the time. Asch found that 75% of participants conformed at least onceWhat does this suggest - this suggests that, when unsure and in a group setting, participants will conform to the group due to normative and informational social influenceAO3 involves evaluating the strengths and limitations of the study and theory:Strengths:Lab experiment = controlled, reliable, replicableFew extraneous variablesLimitations:Lab experiment = lacks ecological validity, demand characteristicsOutdated - study took place in 1951Contradictory research = Perrin and Spencer (only 1 out of 396 students conformed)Lack of generalisability = only tested white menEthical issues = deception