Solomon Asch

Meaning: Asch's 1950s experiments tested conformity, which is changing behavior or belief to match a group. A participant sat with confederates who unanimously named the wrong comparison line as matching a standard line. On these critical trials, participants went along with the wrong answer roughly a third of the time, and most conformed at least once. Because the correct answer was obvious, the pressure was mainly normative social influence (the wish to be accepted), not informational influence (assuming the group knows better). Asch also described central traits, such as warm versus cold, which shape overall impressions of a person.

On the MCAT: A passage describes a group-pressure study and asks you to predict the effect of a change. Conformity falls if one confederate gives the correct answer, and tends to fall if responses are private rather than public. It rises as group size grows from one to a few confederates, then levels off. You may also be asked to name the type of social influence at work.

Common confusion: Asch is not Milgram or Sherif. Milgram studied obedience to an authority figure's commands. Sherif used the ambiguous autokinetic effect and showed group norms forming through informational influence. Asch's task had a clear right answer and the pressure came from peers, not authority.