Psychology A Level Essay Plans/Notes – Social Influence
Describe and evaluate Asch’s research into conformity
AO1
(1951), baseline procedure, 123 american men, line test, had to state which line was
different, 1 particpant vs confederates, conformed around 1/3 of the time
variables - group size (increased), unanimity (dissenter decreased), task difficulty
(increased)
AO3
limitation - artificial situation/task, knew it was a study, demand characteristics,
trivial task, do not generalise to real world settings
limitation - limited application, american men, women may be different ie more
conformist, US is individualist, conformity higher in collectivist states, lacks
universitality
strength - research support, Lucas et al (2006), maths problems, conformed more
often to harder tasks, task difficulty variable is correct
Describe and evaluate informational social influence and normative social
influnece as explanations of conformity
AO1
ISI - cognitive process about who has better information, we want to be right, more
likely in new situations/ambiguity/crisis situations
NSI - normal behaviour in a group, emotional, temporary change in
opinions/behaviour, more likely with strangers/when concerned with social
approval/stressful situations
AO3
strength - research support for NSI, Asch interviewed participants, said they felt self
concious, when writing answers rather than speaking conformity fell to 12.5%, desire
to not be rejected
strength - research support for ISI, Lucas, higher conformity with harder questions,
did not want to be wrong
limitation - individual differences in NSI, some more concerned with being liked,
nAffilliators more likely to conform, cannot be explained by one theory
Discuss research into conformity to social roles
AO1
, Zimabardo SPE (1973), randomly assigned to prisoners/guards, encouraged to
conform, uniforms, instructions for behaviour
guards took roles seriously, prisoners rebelled, highlighted social roles by
establishing punishments, increased aggression, ended after 6 days
AO3
strength - control, eg emotionally stable participants chosen and randomly assigned,
means behaviour was due to social roles, increased internal validity
limitation - lack of realism, play acting vs conforming, based on stereotypes or from
movies, findings say little about actual prison social roles
limitation - exaggerates the power of roles, only 1/3 guards were brutal, others tried
to help and support prisoners, able to resist situational pressures, overstated
findings and minimised influence of dispositional factors
Describe and evaluate Milgram’s research into obediance
AO1
1963, 40 american men, supposed study on memory, ordered to give (fake) electric
shocks on fake participant doing memory test
all participants = 300V, 65% continued to 450V ie fully obediant, found germans are
not different as americans were willing to obey
AO3
strength - research support, reproduced in french tv show, 80% were fully obediant,
supports original findings
limitation - low internal validity, Perry (2013), participant tapes saying only 1/2
participants believed shocks were real, demand characterstics
limitation - alternative interpretation of findings, social identity theory, participants
obeyed when in line with experiment, ‘identifying with science’, more valid
explanation
Describe and evaluate 2 or more situational variables that have been shown by
Milgram to affect obediance to authority
AO1
proximity - same room vs phone, decreased proximity allows to psychologically
distance from consequences of actions (increased proximity means increased
obediance)
location - yale vs run down office, prestigous environemnt gives legitimacy and
authority (increased obediance)
uniform - lab coat vs everyday clothes, symbols of authority (increased obediance
with uniform)
Describe and evaluate Asch’s research into conformity
AO1
(1951), baseline procedure, 123 american men, line test, had to state which line was
different, 1 particpant vs confederates, conformed around 1/3 of the time
variables - group size (increased), unanimity (dissenter decreased), task difficulty
(increased)
AO3
limitation - artificial situation/task, knew it was a study, demand characteristics,
trivial task, do not generalise to real world settings
limitation - limited application, american men, women may be different ie more
conformist, US is individualist, conformity higher in collectivist states, lacks
universitality
strength - research support, Lucas et al (2006), maths problems, conformed more
often to harder tasks, task difficulty variable is correct
Describe and evaluate informational social influence and normative social
influnece as explanations of conformity
AO1
ISI - cognitive process about who has better information, we want to be right, more
likely in new situations/ambiguity/crisis situations
NSI - normal behaviour in a group, emotional, temporary change in
opinions/behaviour, more likely with strangers/when concerned with social
approval/stressful situations
AO3
strength - research support for NSI, Asch interviewed participants, said they felt self
concious, when writing answers rather than speaking conformity fell to 12.5%, desire
to not be rejected
strength - research support for ISI, Lucas, higher conformity with harder questions,
did not want to be wrong
limitation - individual differences in NSI, some more concerned with being liked,
nAffilliators more likely to conform, cannot be explained by one theory
Discuss research into conformity to social roles
AO1
, Zimabardo SPE (1973), randomly assigned to prisoners/guards, encouraged to
conform, uniforms, instructions for behaviour
guards took roles seriously, prisoners rebelled, highlighted social roles by
establishing punishments, increased aggression, ended after 6 days
AO3
strength - control, eg emotionally stable participants chosen and randomly assigned,
means behaviour was due to social roles, increased internal validity
limitation - lack of realism, play acting vs conforming, based on stereotypes or from
movies, findings say little about actual prison social roles
limitation - exaggerates the power of roles, only 1/3 guards were brutal, others tried
to help and support prisoners, able to resist situational pressures, overstated
findings and minimised influence of dispositional factors
Describe and evaluate Milgram’s research into obediance
AO1
1963, 40 american men, supposed study on memory, ordered to give (fake) electric
shocks on fake participant doing memory test
all participants = 300V, 65% continued to 450V ie fully obediant, found germans are
not different as americans were willing to obey
AO3
strength - research support, reproduced in french tv show, 80% were fully obediant,
supports original findings
limitation - low internal validity, Perry (2013), participant tapes saying only 1/2
participants believed shocks were real, demand characterstics
limitation - alternative interpretation of findings, social identity theory, participants
obeyed when in line with experiment, ‘identifying with science’, more valid
explanation
Describe and evaluate 2 or more situational variables that have been shown by
Milgram to affect obediance to authority
AO1
proximity - same room vs phone, decreased proximity allows to psychologically
distance from consequences of actions (increased proximity means increased
obediance)
location - yale vs run down office, prestigous environemnt gives legitimacy and
authority (increased obediance)
uniform - lab coat vs everyday clothes, symbols of authority (increased obediance
with uniform)
