Full Title: An investigation into the effects of ambiguous and unambiguous stimuli on majority influence.

This essay is taken from my A-Level Psychology Coursework, finally made available to anyone who might be interested. The abstract can be found below, with a link to the full project at the bottom of the post.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the effect of ambiguous and unambiguous stimuli on majority influence. Using two separate questionnaires, equal numbers of male and female eleven to twelve year old students were tested in independent groups. The true nature of the study was concealed from the participants using a single blind technique in order to reduce biases. It was believed that conformity rates would be significantly higher on the ambiguous rather than the unambiguous questionnaire. The results collected were found to be statistically significant in favour of the alternative hypothesis, which was that conformity on a questionnaire would be significantly higher when an ambiguous stimulus is used, rather than an unambiguous one. This suggests that conformity is present even when reacting to previous ticks on a questionnaire, as well as proving that participants are far more likely to conform on a task which is ambiguous. The findings of this study also relate to those of Asch (1956) who conducted research into conformity with an unambiguous stimulus.

The bulk of the research project can be viewed and downloaded from here in PDF format >>