0:00:00.000,0:00:03.699
Okay, I wanna give you[br]a test of your visual acuity.

0:00:03.793,0:00:06.824
Your sensitivity to [br]differences in line lengths.

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So I'm gonna show you a standard

0:00:09.529,0:00:12.084
and then I'm gonna show [br]you three comparison lines.

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One is gonna be bigger,[br]one is gonna be shorter,

0:00:14.978,0:00:17.105
and one is gonna be the[br]same size as the standard.

0:00:17.105,0:00:18.050
Your job is...

0:00:18.295,0:00:21.993
tell me which line, A, B, or C[br]is the same as the standard.

0:00:24.529,0:00:26.192
Seems like a simple judgement.

0:00:26.192,0:00:27.674
You always get it right.

0:00:27.747,0:00:30.437
But now, before you give your answer,

0:00:30.885,0:00:32.103
there are gonna be

0:00:32.623,0:00:36.588
half dozen to ten other [br]people, like you, in the room

0:00:36.588,0:00:38.121
and they're gonna [br]give their answers first.

0:00:38.121,0:00:39.736
An amazing thing happens.

0:00:39.736,0:00:43.213
One after another, they say [br]the line that you see as shorter

0:00:43.213,0:00:44.913
is the same as the standard.

0:00:45.000,0:00:46.673
Shorter, shorter, shorter, shorter,

0:00:46.673,0:00:50.030
they don't say shorter, they [br]just say B, B, B, B. and so forth.

0:00:50.195,0:00:51.631
Now it's your turn.

0:00:52.163,0:00:55.470
You know B is the wrong answer.

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But what do you say?

0:00:59.010,0:01:01.116
In this study done by Solomon Asch,

0:01:01.116,0:01:03.354
a classic study of group conformity,

0:01:04.413,0:01:06.897
the majority of people gave in.

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Gave in on most of the critical trials

0:01:10.600,0:01:13.432
to agree with, to say, publicly

0:01:13.612,0:01:15.485
that they agreed with the majority.

0:01:15.690,0:01:18.957
So this study is one of[br]the first classic studies

0:01:18.957,0:01:21.224
on the power of a group.

0:01:21.544,0:01:23.475
As long as there's three or more people

0:01:23.866,0:01:26.268
who agree among themselves

0:01:26.365,0:01:29.243
that reality is not the way you see it,

0:01:29.662,0:01:31.862
in many cases, you give in

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to see the world in their way.

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Let's look at that study.

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(male speaker)[br]The experiment you'll be taking part in

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today involves the [br]perception of lengths of lines

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as you can see here,[br]I have a number of cards

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and on each card there are several lines.

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Your task is a very simple one.

0:01:49.665,0:01:51.645
You're to look at the line on the left

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and determine which of the three lines

0:01:53.460,0:01:55.276
on the right is equal to it in length.

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Alright we'll procede in this order:

0:01:57.166,0:01:57.869
you'll give your answer...

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(male narrator)[br]Only one of the peope in the group

0:01:59.181,0:02:00.378
is a real subject.

0:02:00.471,0:02:02.501
The fifth person with the white t-shirt.

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The others are [br]confederates of the experimenter

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and have been told to give [br]wrong answers on some of the trials.

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The experiment begins uneventfully,[br]as subjects give their judgements.

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Two.

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Two.

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Two.

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Two.

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Two.

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(Subject 1)[br]Three.

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(Subject 2) [br]Three.

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(Subject 3)[br]Three.

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Three.

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Three.

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(Narrator) [br]But on the third trial, something happens.

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(Subject 1)[br]Two.

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(Subject 2) [br]Two.

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(Subject 3) [br]Two.

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Two.

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Uh, two.

0:02:37.524,0:02:39.538
(Narrator) [br]The subject denies the evidence

0:02:39.538,0:02:42.318
of his own eyes and [br]yields to group influence.

0:02:43.976,0:02:46.214
Asch found subjects [br]went along with the group

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on 37% of the critical trials.

0:02:49.445,0:02:51.172
But he found, through interviews,

0:02:51.172,0:02:54.115
that they went along with[br]the group for different reasons.

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One.

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One.

0:02:57.110,0:02:58.528
(thinking)[br]They must be right.

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There are four of them and one of me.

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One.

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(Narrator) [br]This subject's yeilding

0:03:02.864,0:03:05.047
is based on a distortion of his judgement.

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He genuinely believes[br]that the group is correct.

0:03:09.412,0:03:10.231
One.

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One.

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One.

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Two.

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One.

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(Subject 1) [br]Two.

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Two.

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Two.

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(thinking)[br]I know they're wrong,

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but why should I make waves?

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Two.

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(Narrator) In this case,

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the subject knows he is right,

0:03:31.551,0:03:35.004
but goes along to avoid the [br]discomfort of disagreeing with the group.

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Here the distortion is at[br]the level of his response.

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Two.

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Two.

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Two.

0:03:43.250,0:03:44.117
Two.

0:03:44.369,0:03:46.261
(Narrator)[br]In the previous experiment,

0:03:46.261,0:03:48.745
the naive subject stood [br]alone against the group.

0:03:49.391,0:03:51.815
In this variation, Asch[br]gave the naive subject

0:03:51.815,0:03:54.364
a partner, here seated[br]in the third position,

0:03:54.641,0:03:56.890
who also gives the correct response.

0:03:57.951,0:03:58.800
(Subject 1[br]One.

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One.

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Two.

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One.

0:04:06.404,0:04:08.138
Um, two.

0:04:08.138,0:04:09.379
(Narrator) [br]With a partner,

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yielding drops to only [br]5% of the critical trials,

0:04:12.294,0:04:14.861
compared to 37% without a partner.

0:04:15.428,0:04:17.888
Although subjects report [br]warmth and good feeling

0:04:17.888,0:04:19.890
toward the partner, they typically deny

0:04:19.890,0:04:22.303
that he played a role in[br]their own independence.

0:04:23.866,0:04:27.569
The partnership variation shows that [br]much of the power of the group came,

0:04:27.569,0:04:31.593
not nearly from it's numbers, but[br]from the uninimity of its opposition.

0:04:31.723,0:04:33.435
When that uninimity is punctured,

0:04:33.435,0:04:35.575
the group's power is greatly reduced.

0:04:37.199,0:04:38.982
Sometimes we go along with a group

0:04:38.982,0:04:41.640
because what they say [br]convinces us they are right.

0:04:41.991,0:04:44.287
This is called informational conformity.

0:04:44.744,0:04:47.325
And sometimes, we conform[br]because we are apprehensive

0:04:47.325,0:04:49.929
that the group will [br]disapprove if we are deviant.

0:04:50.200,0:04:52.315
This is called normative conformity.

0:04:52.940,0:04:54.669
The strength of the normative factor

0:04:54.669,0:04:57.385
is shown in another [br]variation carried out by Asch.

0:04:58.625,0:05:02.138
In this variation, the subject is told [br]that, because he had arrived late,

0:05:02.138,0:05:04.399
he would have to write his answers.

0:05:04.872,0:05:07.073
Subjects in this private[br]response experiment

0:05:07.073,0:05:08.679
are exposed to the same amount of

0:05:08.679,0:05:10.632
misleading information [br]as other subjects,

0:05:10.632,0:05:13.587
but they are immune from any [br]possible criticism by the group.

0:05:13.964,0:05:14.810
One.

0:05:15.046,0:05:15.905
One.

0:05:16.600,0:05:17.310
One.

0:05:17.310,0:05:19.118
(Narrator) [br]And this enormously reduces

0:05:19.118,0:05:20.298
the pressure to conform.

0:05:20.701,0:05:22.633
Conformity drops by two thirds.

0:05:24.320,0:05:26.514
Asch's experiment is a classic.

0:05:26.567,0:05:29.338
It reveals how people [br]will deny what they see

0:05:29.353,0:05:30.852
and submit to group pressure.

0:05:31.035,0:05:33.760
It allows us not only [br]to observe conformity,

0:05:33.875,0:05:37.766
but to study the conditions that[br]increase or reduce it's occurrence.

0:05:37.796,0:05:46.236
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