Consent, congruent… Do I know what they meant? Conclusion, Distribution… All is confusion Conservation, correlation… I need a vacation Short-term, long-term… When is half-term? Perhaps I’ll never be a rap artist! I’ve used eight words which you will find in most glossaries to accompany A Level or GCSE Psychology courses. Over recent years I’ve spent […]
Read moreAsch’s classic study judging the length of lines demonstrated people will go along with majority opinion even when the answer is clearly wrong. One of the key questions was whether they were just going along with the answers (called ‘compliance’), or whether the majority influence actually changed their opinions (i.e. they internalised the majority view). […]
Read moreIn the AQA A AS Complete Companion we have subdivided conformity into majority and minority influence. There was a reason for this – when the new specification was first published minority influence was a named topic so we wrote material on it. However, in a very late revision, minority influence was removed from the specification. […]
Read moreWhy did so many MPs claim expenses which, although apparently ‘within the rules’, were clearly not morally justifiable? It has been suggested that this was a conformity effect, as research has shown that bending the rules or breaking social norms increases, sometimes doubling, if people see that others are doing this. It’s a ‘me too’ […]
Read moreIf you go here, you can download a copy of one of the most famous radio broadcasts ever made: Orson Welles 1938 adaptation of ‘War Of The Worlds’, a drama that caused mass panic and hysteria when it was broadcast. Here’s what happened: “On the evening of Sunday, October 30, 1938 – a month after the […]
Read moreMatters of psychological interest conveyed for your convenience and edification in the modern realplayer format. Bought to you by the British Broadcasting Corporation and the wonders of the electronic interweb: Solomon Asch – Conformity Jean Piaget – The Three Mountains Sir Frederic Bartlett – War of The Ghosts
Read more
