Discuss research experiments on how group membership affects an individual's perceptions
What will be an ideal response?
Feedback: The wish to conform to a group can be so great that it affects a person's perception of what is real. (1) Solomon Asch tested this by asking subjects to identify the longest line on cards. When the accomplices consistently identified the wrong line, the unwitting subjects would go along with the group and identify the same wrong line more than 70% of the time. (2) Muzafer Sherif asked subjects in a dark room to describe how far a light appeared to move. In a group with no accomplices, the subjects modified their observations to be consistent with the group consensus and arrive at a collective judgment. This experiment showed that group pressure reflects natural group processes toward conformity, even without research accomplices leading the decision in any particular direction.
You might also like to view...
The author indicates that lower class worship services are __________ than upper class worship services
a. less inhibited b. more sincere c. better d. worse
According to the sociological imagination view, if things are defined as real, they are real in their consequences
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
The ability of adults to fulfill their psychological, material, and sexual needs has nothing to do with the success of their marriage
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
The central feature of No Child Left Behind is
a. increased pay for teachers. b. evaluation of all students by mandatory periodic standardized tests. c. additional funding for public schools, particularly elementary schools. d. greater creativity and flexibility in the curricula of each school. e. smaller class size and increased teacher-student ratio.