Who is asch

However, one problem in comparing this study with Asch is that very different types of participants are used. Perrin and Spencer used science and engineering students who might be expected to be more independent by training when it came to making perceptual judgments. Finally, there are ethical issues : participants were not protected from psychological stress which may occur if they disagreed with the majority. Evidence that participants in Asch-type situations are highly emotional was obtained by Back et al.

This finding also suggests that they were in a conflict situation, finding it hard to decide whether to report what they saw or to conform to the opinion of others.

Asch also deceived the student volunteers claiming they were taking part in a 'vision' test; the real purpose was to see how the 'naive' participant would react to the behavior of the confederates. However, deception was necessary to produce valid results. The clip below is not from the original experiment in , but an acted version for television from the s.

In further trials, Asch , changed the procedure i. Asch found that group size influenced whether subjects conformed. The bigger the majority group no of confederates , the more people conformed, but only up to a certain point. With one other person i. Increasing the size of the majority beyond three did not increase the levels of conformity found. Brown and Byrne suggest that people might suspect collusion if the majority rises beyond three or four.

In another variation of the original experiment, Asch broke up the unanimity total agreement of the group by introduced a dissenting confederate.

This was supported in a study by Allen and Levine In their version of the experiment, they introduced a dissenting disagreeing confederate wearing thick-rimmed glasses — thus suggesting he was slightly visually impaired. Clearly, the presence of an ally decreases conformity.

The absence of group unanimity lowers overall conformity as participants feel less need for social approval of the group re: normative conformity. When the comparison lines e. When we are uncertain, it seems we look to others for confirmation.

However, social pressure may also be applied to other fields such as:. Politics - Residents who display political yard signs may influence other residents in their community to vote for a specific political party.

Marketing - Companies may increase sales by using stats to show that most people in the neighborhood are using a specific product or service. Healthcare - People who want to improve their health may be encouraged to surround themselves with individuals who have healthy habits such as exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet. Parenting - Parents may influence the behaviors their children develop by monitoring the friends they keep. Military - New recruits are influenced to shave their head, develop combat skills, and follow orders if they want to fit in with the group.

Education - Schools maintain order by ensuring that new students conform to certain existing standards. New students may be influenced to wear a uniform or respond to specific bells when they observe the behavior of other students. His participants were all young male students who attended Swarthmore College.

Consequently, his results may not be applicable to females or older people. A second issue is that the study has low ecological validity as the results may not be applicable to real-life scenarios that involve conformity. Asch ensured that the participants were able to identify the correct answer in each trial. However, people in real-life situations of conformity may be unsure what the correct decision is.

Studies conducted in other countries show that the level of conformity may change depending on whether a country prioritizes individualism or collectivism.

Other critics argue that participants did not have a desire to conform to the rest of the group, but simply wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict. Asch authored a number of landmark articles that helped to shape the field of social psychology. In , he published his research findings in the book Social Psychology. Asch married Florence Miller in and the two enjoyed a long and pleasant marriage.

Asch and Florence met at a library and although they lived just a few blocks apart, they wrote to each other constantly during their courtship. Asch, who was affectionately called Shlaym by his friends, died on February 20, , at his home in Haverford, Pennsylvania. He was 88 years of age.

He was survived by his wife, two grandsons, a granddaughter, and a great-grandson. His son, Peter, predeceased him in Asch, S. Studies in space orientation: I. Perception of the upright with displaced visual fields. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38 3 , — Ceraso, J. On Solomon Asch. Rock Ed. New York: Psychology Press. Death of Solomon Asch. King, D. History of psychology: Ideas and context 5th ed. While Solomon Asch left many lasting impacts on the field of psychology, his studies on conformity also known as Asch Paradigms are by far his most recognized achievement.

The purpose of these experiments was to prove the significance of conformity in social settings. More publications by Asch include, Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment , Opinions and social pressure , Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority and Social psychology Home Blog Contact.

Asch also supervised Stanley Milgram's Ph. Milgram's work helped demonstrate how far people would go to obey an order from an authority figure. While Asch's work illustrated how peer pressure influences social behavior often in negative ways , Asch still believed that people tended to behave decently towards each other.

The power of situations and group pressure, however, could often lead to less than ideal behavior and decision-making. In a review of some of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, Asch was ranked as the 41st most-frequently cited psychologist. Ever wonder what your personality type means? Sign up to find out more in our Healthy Mind newsletter.

The biological bases of conformity. Front Neurosci. Asch SE. Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. In: Guetzkow H, ed. Pittsburgh PA: Carnegie Press; Swarthmore College. University of Pennsylvania. Death of Solomon Asch. McCauley C, Rozin P.