PSYCO241 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Optical Illusion, Order Of The Solar Temple, Social Proof
13 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
Social influence: how people are affected by the real and imagined pressures of others. Humans are vulnerable to a host of subtle, almost reflex-like influences. Shortly after birth, babies often mimic simple gestures. Infants first start to open their mouth wide, tap their fingers on the table, and wave bye-bye before clapping hands, flexing their fingers, or putting their hands on their head. People are more likely to mimic others when they want to belong. The effect is also related to mood. Conformity: tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are consistent with group norms. Participants were first seated alone in a dark room and focused on a light, and then asked how much it moved. Light movement was an optical illusion - autokinetic effect. Line comparison by one subject while in a group of confederates. Participants went along with the clearly incorrect majority 37% of the time. However, 25% of the participants never conformed.
