Blog Post #13

Asch's Conformity was a very interesting experiment. These people gave into peer pressure and conformed to the rest of the group. The people in the experiment felt insecure about their original choice. They second guessed themselves and just went with the group. They didn't truse themselves and didn't want to be considered weird by choosing the wrong answer. Milgram's Obedience, to me, showed what people will do to one another under pressure. I was shocked to see how the majority of participants continued to obey all the way to the end. Even though they knew that they were inflicting harm on others, they still continued through the experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment was shocking to me because I couldn't believe how these people accepted their roles and fell into that role. the guards really surprised me by how they played thier roles and were lost in them. I believe that a rare personality of theirs came through by the role-playing.

Social Influence is when we conform, comply, and change our behaviors in groups. We go along with the "norm" of our surroundings; to go along with the crowd. This again leads to peer pressure. I usually don't cave into peer pressure, however, if my best friend started wearing sweats all the time. I probably would too. I do tend to "follow the group" when it comes to my family. I would follow my family in anything. In one particular instance when I was very young, my family ressured me into singing a song. I didn't want to sing, but I caved into the pressure, and sang for my family.

The most interesting thing I learned in this class is memory. The story of the man who could only remember 12 seconds totally baffled me. His wife deffinately has it the worst with his memory and mood swings. However, his love for his wife, and his love for music he did remember. Overall this was a very good class that I learned a lot in and it helped to explain a lot of things about myself that I always questioned. I now have a new understanding.