0:00:00.265,0:00:03.399 Dr. Philip Zimbardo: Okay I wanna give [br]you a test of your visually acuity. 0:00:03.832,0:00:06.569 Your sensitivity to [br]differences in line lengths. 0:00:07.319,0:00:12.039 So I'm going to show you a standard, [br]and then I'll show three comparison lines. 0:00:12.355,0:00:14.875 One is going to be bigger, [br]one is going to be shorter, 0:00:15.125,0:00:17.244 and one is going to be [br]the same size as the standard. 0:00:17.510,0:00:21.730 Your job is, tell me which line, [br]A, B, or C, is the same as the standard. 0:00:24.929,0:00:27.825 Seems like a simple judgement, [br]you always get it right. 0:00:28.042,0:00:30.244 But now, [br]before you give your answer, 0:00:30.646,0:00:36.126 there are going to be a half dozen [br]to ten other people, like you, in the room, 0:00:36.675,0:00:37.994 and they're going to give [br]their answers first. 0:00:38.278,0:00:41.130 An amazing thing happens, [br]one after another, 0:00:41.130,0:00:44.650 they say the line that you see as shorter,[br]is the same as the standard. 0:00:45.266,0:00:47.395 Shorter, shorter, shorter, shorter [br]they don't say shorter, 0:00:47.395,0:00:50.115 they just say B, B, B, and so forth. 0:00:50.364,0:00:54.883 Now it's your turn. [br]You know B is the wrong answer. 0:00:55.568,0:01:01.072 But what do you say? [br]In this study done by Solomon Asch, 0:01:01.072,0:01:06.410 classic study of group conformity.[br]The majority of people gave in. 0:01:07.426,0:01:13.565 Gave in on most of the critical trials,[br]to agree with, to say publicly, 0:01:13.565,0:01:15.432 that they agreed with the majority. 0:01:15.767,0:01:18.869 This study is one of the [br]first classic studies 0:01:18.869,0:01:20.986 on the power of the group. 0:01:21.439,0:01:26.040 As long as there are three or more people [br]who agree among themselves 0:01:26.040,0:01:29.194 that reality is not the [br]way you see it, 0:01:29.194,0:01:33.881 in many cases, [br]you give in to see the world in their way. 0:01:34.665,0:01:36.131 Let's look at that study. 0:01:37.418,0:01:38.818 Experiment Conductor: [br]The experiment you will be taking 0:01:38.818,0:01:42.303 part in today involves the [br]perception of lengths of lines. 0:01:42.303,0:01:44.807 As you can see here,[br]I have a number of cards 0:01:44.807,0:01:47.376 and on each there are several lines. 0:01:47.376,0:01:49.826 Your task is a very simple one: 0:01:49.826,0:01:53.197 you are to look at the line on the left [br]and determine which of the three lines 0:01:53.197,0:01:55.179 on the right is equal to it in length. 0:01:55.548,0:01:57.967 Alright, we'll proceed in this order, [br]you will give your answers- 0:01:57.967,0:02:00.285 Narrator: Only one of the people [br]in the group is a real subject, 0:02:00.285,0:02:02.385 the fifth person [br]with a white tee-shirt. 0:02:02.385,0:02:05.238 The others are confederates [br]of the experimenter, 0:02:05.238,0:02:07.940 and have been told to give [br]wrong answers on some of the trials. 0:02:09.140,0:02:12.443 The experiment begins uneventfully [br]as subjects give their judgements 0:02:13.442,0:02:16.762 Male Subjects: [br]Two, two, two, two, two. 0:02:18.982,0:02:24.001 Three, three, three, three. 0:02:24.684,0:02:27.136 But on the third trial, something happens. 0:02:27.136,0:02:37.746 Two, two, two, uh two. 0:02:38.312,0:02:42.797 The subject denies the evidence [br]of his own eyes and yields to group influence. 0:02:44.399,0:02:48.987 Asch found subjects went along with [br]the group on 37% of the critical trials. 0:02:49.669,0:02:52.625 But he found through interviews [br]that they went along with 0:02:52.625,0:02:53.990 the group for different reasons. 0:02:54.441,0:02:56.959 Male Subjects: [br]One, one. 0:02:57.409,0:02:59.950 Male #1: They must be right, [br]there are four of them and one of me. 0:03:00.222,0:03:01.222 One. 0:03:01.494,0:03:04.751 Narrator: This subject's yielding is based [br]on a distortion of his judgement. 0:03:05.352,0:03:07.386 He genuinely believes [br]that the group is correct. 0:03:08.256,0:03:17.446 Male Subjects:[br]One. One. One. Two. 0:03:17.730,0:03:25.249 One. Two. Two. Two. 0:03:25.867,0:03:27.985 Male #1: I know they're wrong,[br]but why should I make waves? 0:03:28.386,0:03:31.672 Narrator: In this case, [br]the subject knows he is right, 0:03:31.672,0:03:35.257 but goes along to avoid the [br]discomfort of disagreeing with the group. 0:03:35.523,0:03:38.179 Here, the distortion [br]is at the level of his response. 0:03:38.511,0:03:45.299 Male Subjects:[br]Two, Two, Two, Two. 0:03:45.299,0:03:49.704 Narrator: In the previous experiment, [br]the naïve subject stood alone against the group. 0:03:49.704,0:03:52.972 In this variation, [br]Asch gave the naïve subject a partner, 0:03:52.972,0:03:56.674 here seated in the third position, [br]who also gives the correct response. 0:03:56.674,0:04:08.696 Male Subjects:[br]One, one, two, one, um two. 0:04:08.696,0:04:11.350 Narrator: With a partner, [br]yielding drops to only five percent 0:04:11.350,0:04:15.120 of the critical trials [br]compared to 37% without a partner. 0:04:15.554,0:04:18.040 Although subjects report [br]warmth and good feeling 0:04:18.040,0:04:20.541 toward the partner, [br]they typically deny that he played 0:04:20.541,0:04:22.426 a role in their own independence. 0:04:23.375,0:04:27.829 The partnership variation shows [br]that much of the power of the group came, 0:04:27.829,0:04:31.349 not merely from its numbers [br]but from the unanimity of its opposition. 0:04:32.117,0:04:35.367 When that unanimity is punctured, [br]the group's power is greatly reduced. 0:04:37.570,0:04:39.321 Sometimes we go along [br]with the group because 0:04:39.321,0:04:42.041 what they say convinces [br]us they are right. 0:04:42.041,0:04:44.360 This is called [br]informational conformity. 0:04:44.360,0:04:47.729 But sometimes we conform [br]because we are apprehensive 0:04:47.729,0:04:50.395 that the group will [br]disapprove if we are deviant. 0:04:50.395,0:04:52.638 This is called normative conformity. 0:04:52.638,0:04:57.093 The strength of the normative factor [br]is shown in another variation carried out by Asch. 0:04:58.294,0:05:00.947 In this variation, [br]the subject is told that 0:05:00.947,0:05:04.015 because he had arrived late, [br]he would have to write his answers. 0:05:05.150,0:05:07.803 Subjects in this private response [br]experiment are exposed 0:05:07.803,0:05:10.670 to the same amount of [br]misleading information as other subjects, 0:05:10.670,0:05:13.607 but they're immune from any [br]possible criticism by the group. 0:05:14.441,0:05:17.392 Male Subjects: [br]One, one, one- 0:05:17.392,0:05:20.198 Narrator: And this enormously reduces [br]the pressure to conform. 0:05:20.881,0:05:22.649 Conformity drops by 2/3. 0:05:24.775,0:05:26.737 Asch's experiment is a classic. 0:05:26.737,0:05:29.237 It reveals how people [br]will deny what they see, 0:05:29.237,0:05:30.786 and submit to group pressure. 0:05:31.296,0:05:33.710 It allows us not [br]only to observe conformity, 0:05:33.710,0:05:37.728 but to study the conditions [br]that increase or reduce its occurrence.