Developmental psychology.pdf

Social Behavior 503
Experiments with French and Norwegian subjects supported these findings,
though the two groups performed somewhat differently from each other. More conformity
was found among the Norwegians, whereas several of the French became indignant
whenever their deviant responses were questioned by the majority (Milgram,
1961). Subsequent studies showed that the rate of conformity remains as high today
as it was a generation ago (Lamb & Alsikafi, 1980).
These results should not prompt the view that conformity is necessarily undesirable.
People conform for various reasons, and certainly conformity leads to group
cohesion. Think of the impossibility of maintaining a psychology course if people did
not conform to the class hours, the assignments, and expected class behavior. Nonconformity
does not necessarily represent independence either, for some people adopt
the contrary view regardless of the issue. They cannot be described as independent
because their views are determined by prevailing opinion, although in the opposite direction.
Figure 18.16
Conformity as Agreement. The
stimulus cards were 40 inches apart
on a ledge, and the subjects were
required to match the single line with
one of the other three. Reports began
with the first person on the left; the
true subject (6) at times found his
judgments to be in conflict with those
of all others in the group (Asch,
1955).
Conformity as Obedience In more controversial investigations each subject was
told that the experimenter was studying the effects of punishment on learning. The
subject would be required to punish someone else's incorrect responses by administering
electric shocks to that person. After a demonstration of the apparatus, during which
the subject or "teacher" experienced a slight shock, the research began. The learner
made errors regularly, and the research question was: How much shock would the
subject administer before refusing to follow the investigator's requests?
Several psychiatrists were asked this question, and they estimated that less
than 4 percent of the subjects would administer as much as 300 volts. They also decided
that less than 0.1 percent would administer the maximum of 450 volts.
When this procedure was carried out with 40 subjects, the results were surprising
indeed. Altogether 65 percent of the subjects obeyed all of the investigator's
orders, punishing the learner with 450 volts, the most powerful shock available. They