Sifting through hundreds of pages of my Psychology textbook while studying for my final wasn't a complete waste of time. I collected the most interesting experiments and examples I came across and have described a few of them here.

Conforming to an Obviously Wrong Majority: Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a famous set of experiments involving a seemingly simple question asked to a group of participants. However, there was only a single actual test subject with the remainder of the group consisting of “confederates” who were instructed to give the wrong answer. The group was arranged so that the subject gave their answer next-to-last so that they could hear the confederates’ incorrect answers first. The majority of subjects (37 out of 50) conformed to the incorrect majority at least once. Asch later said this about the results: “That we have found the tendency to conformity in our society so strong…is a matter of concern. It raises questions about…the values that guide our conduct.” (Asch 1955)

Escalation of Conflict: Less of a psychology example and more of a handy way to make some money is the “Dollar Auction”. In this example, someone auctions off a dollar with no starting minimum bid. The only problem is that both the winning bidder and second highest bidder must pay their bid. The initial bids quickly escalate into the 80 and 90 cent range as one would still make a profit. However, once the dollar barrier has been reached and exceeded, the bidding continues because if a person wins the auction for $1.15, they sustain a loss of only 15 cents whereas the second highest bidder would lose their entire bid. Most auctions end up in the $3 to $5 range, and bidders become very distressed once the $1 barrier is passed, sometimes even crying (Brockner & Rubin, 1985).

Bystander Apathy: In 1964, a young woman, Kitty Genovese, was stabbed to death near her apartment. While not an uncommon event in Queens, New York, what was different was that for 30 minutes, at least 38 of her neighbors heard her screams without calling the police or helping. After one resident shouted for the attacker to “let that girl alone”, he did but returned minutes later to continue his attack. Another witness finally called the police, but only after he had first called a friend to decide whether he should. This is an example of “diffusion of responsibility”, where we are less likely to act in the presence of others who could do the same.

Obedience to Authority: Another disturbing experiment concerning our actions and independence was performed by Stanley Milgram in 1974 (prior to more stringent research regulations). The experiment tested the idea that people would perform an action that could harm someone if they were told to do so by an authority figure. The experiment involved a “teacher” and a “learner”. The teacher was instructed to deliver an increasingly powerful shock to the learner (a confederate) for each error the learner made while answering the test subject’s (teacher) questions. The results showed that the majority of participants would continue to deliver shocks up to the maximum amount despite hearing the learner’s screams of agony and even not hearing any sounds at all once a certain voltage was reached.

Strategies of Persuasion: Foot-in-the-door technique - Start with a modest request and follow it with a larger one later. A much higher percentage of people will agree to perform a relatively large task if they have done a smaller task for the same group before (Schwarzwarld et al., 1983). Door-in-the-face technique - Following an outrageous request with a more reasonable one. For example, if someone calls and asks for a $10,000 donation, you will be more likely to comply if the lower their request to $5 than if they had asked for that amount from the beginning. bait-and-switch technique - Getting the subject to commit to a good deal before making additional demands. For example, a car salesman could entice you with a new car for $3,000 but might bump up the price if you want it to include wheels and an engine.