Final answer:
Solomon Asch conducted a study on conformity where participants conformed to incorrect answers given by others. The number of examples of conformity reduced when participants were allowed to write down their answers instead of speaking them aloud. Group size affected the pressure participants felt to conform.
Step-by-step explanation:
Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a study on conformity in the 1950s. In his study, participants were shown a series of line segments and asked to identify which segment from the first group closely resembled a fourth line segment. The twist of the study was that the other participants in the room were actually confederates who gave purposely incorrect answers.
Asch found that when faced with unanimous wrong answers, the subjects conformed to a mean of four of the staged answers. He also discovered that the number of examples of conformity was reduced when subjects were allowed to write down their answers instead of speaking them aloud. Additionally, the size of the group influenced the amount of pressure the subject felt to conform.