Psychology assignment Essay Example for Free

psychological science assignment EssayConformity involves a change in behaviour or opinion in order to fit in with a group. This may be family or peers (a membership group) or it may be pop and sports stars (a reference group). This group can be either a majority or a minority group. (S-cool Student Site)Two processes have been identified in causing people to adapt (Deutsch and Gerard (1955)), these are normative influence which often comes from peer pressure such as fear of rejection and wanting approval and informational influence which is the fear of looking unintelligent and believing new(prenominal)s know better especially with something unknown or difficult. There have been many studies d star by psychologists into why people conform ii examples of which are Zimbardo et al (1973) and Moscovici et al (1969) which are described as followsZimbardos aim in his Stamford prison try was to examine conformity to social routines and expectations in other words to see the eff ect of making good, normal people into prisoners and prison guards.The procedure for the experiment was that twenty-four middle class male students who were mentally in effect(p) in tests and without any criminal convictions were paid fifteen dollars a daylight and divided into prisoners or guards by the flip of a coin.The prisoners were arrested at their homes, blindfolded and taken to the psychology Department of Stanford University that had been converted into a veridical prison. From there the prison regime was established, the three guards were given khaki uniforms dark glasses and wooden batons, the prisoners were issued uniforms and prepare into cells. They were informed that no physical aggression was permitted. The participants were then left to their roles of either prison guard or prisoner.The findings of the resume were that the prison guards became more and more verbally and physically aggressive. The prisoners rebelled against the guards after only one day and fi re extinguishers were used to control the prisoners. The prisoners became depersonalised and suffered emotional depression, one prisoner had to be released after only one day and two more on the fourth day. The study was abandoned after only half dozen days instead of the planned fourteen.Zimbardo believes that the study demonstrated the powerful effect roles could have on peoples behaviour. The participants were acting the role that they thought was expected of them in particular the stereotyped view of how prison guards behave. In other words they were conforming to an unofficial script. The prison environment played an important part in how the guards behaved as none had shown sadistic tendencies before the study.The study has been criticized because of the lack of informed consent the participants had and the humiliation and distress experience by the prisoners. Zimbardo was similarly criticised for acting the role of prison superintendent. In Zimbardos defence he only entr ap out himself late on that he had the backing of the police to do the arrest and there was no time to tell the participants. He also couldnt really tell them what was going to happen without it becoming unrealistic.The study was stopped early and the participants had no lasting effects from the study, after extensive debriefing and follow-ups years later. Infact they revealed they had knowing an important lesson in that we can all be overwhelmed by social influences. Zimbardo himself now acknowledges that he shouldnt of acted the role of superintendent but still believes that there should still be an independent monitor in this block out of research so that not only are the participants protected valuable information can also be acquired.