Similarities Between Sherif And Asch

In 1951, Solomon Asch set out to update an experiment previously performed by Muzafer Sherif in 1935. Sherif’s experiment attempted to explore peer pressure to conform by seeing if groups of subjects would give the same incorrect answers as the carefully instructed confederates in their group. Asch felt that because there had been no correct answer to Sherif’s experiment, it could not be considered legitimate since there could be no gauge as to what the right or wrong answer was.

In his updating of this experiment, he created what is now considered “a classic experiment in Social Psychology” (simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity, 2008) and “the procedure became the standard for hundreds of later experiments” (Social Psychology David G. Myers,

I also think this study is interesting since I consider myself someone who would not give in and conform. I always wonder what makes people do things differently. Even though the subjects were not aware of the reality of the conditions, it was still not potentially harmful or necessarily traumatizing. I felt it was more in the realm of ethical than the other two studies and produced just as legitimate results. As stated in the textbook, “The Sherif and Asch results are startling because they involved no obvious pressure to conform-there were no rewards for “team play”, no punishments for individuality”. (Social Psychology David G. Myers, 2013). Those standards are very pure and honest in my opinion.

In 1955, Asch commented on this outcome stating “That reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern. It raises questions about out ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct” (Social Psychology David G. Myers, 2013). That says to me that he felt that this study very clearly showed that the subjects he used (that age group at least) was prone to peer pressure and would always conform a portion of the time. There were still however, those who stood up for themselves and what they believed to be the right answer. That is

One study in particular which reflects the advancement of time and technology was in 2005 and was led by Dr. Gregory Berns a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta. In this study, they used M.R.I. scanners to see which part of the brain showed activity when the subjects were asked to make choices. By using the M.R.I. scanners, the researchers assumed they would see changes in the forebrain where conflict monitoring, planning and higher-order mental activities are shown if the decisions were made consciously. If it was changes in perception that influenced the decisions, there would be changes in the posterior brain that is dedicated to vision and spatial perception. Instead of either of those possibilities that were hypothesized, researchers were surprised to find that activity was increased in the right intraparietal sulcus which is devoted to spatial awareness and there was absolutely no activity in the area devoted to conscious decisions. Interestingly, the subjects who did not conform to the group showed activity in the regions associated with emotional