Asch Conformity Experiments - Subsequent Conformity Experiments

Subsequent Conformity Experiments

Solomon Asch took the paradigm from his experiment published in 1951 and applied it to his subsequent research experiments. In his 1952b paper, he slightly altered his experiment. His sample still consisted of male college students. However, instead of 8 persons per session, there were 7 to 9; instead of 18 trials (with 12 of them being critical trials), there were 12 trials (with 7 of them being critical trials). Asch also mentioned that an outsider in the room would single out the "real" participant after the first few trials. Furthermore, in his 1955 paper he conducted the same study as in 1951 but with 123 male students from three different universities; instead of 8 participants per group, there was a range of 7 to 9. The real participant also sat among the group so that they were the last or almost last person to give a response. Finally, his 1956 paper also consisted of 123 male college students from three different universities. Asch never mentioned whether it was the same sample as in his 1955 paper. Again, like his 1955 paper, the real participant sat among the group so that they were the last or almost last person to give a response. Unlike his previous papers, his 1956 paper includes an elaborate account of his interviews with participants. Overall, across all of his papers published, Asch found the same results - participants conformed to the majority group in about one-third of all critical trials.