Example Answer for Question 2 Paper 1: A Level Psychology, June 2017 (AQA)

Section A – Social: Q2 [3 Marks]

It is likely that more participants will complete the questionnaire in conditions one than in condition two. In condition one, the real participant is likely to conform to the majority as the other confederates (the majority) completed the questionnaire. A similar finding was found in the Asch line experiment were participants went against their will and conformed for normative reasons (to fit in with the majority).

However, the participants in condition two would be less likely to conform (and complete the questionnaire) as they have an ally (social support) or other people supporting a non-conformist view. This was shown in one of Asch’s variations where one of the confederates was instructed to give the correct answer throughout, and here conformity dropped to 5%.

Please Note: These answers have been produced without the knowledge of the mark scheme and merely reflect my attempt at producing a model answer on the day of the exam.