ERIC Number: EJ1055273
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Apr
Pages: 6
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0098-6283
EISSN: N/A
The Disappearance of Independence in Textbook Coverage of Asch's Social Pressure Experiments
Griggs, Richard A.
Teaching of Psychology, v42 n2 p137-142 Apr 2015
Asch's classic social pressure experiments are discussed in almost all introductory and social psychology textbooks. However, the results of these experiments have been shown to be misrepresented in textbooks. An analysis of textbooks from 1953 to 1984 revealed that although most of the responses on critical trials were independent correct ones, textbooks have increasingly over time emphasized the minority conformity responding and deemphasized the majority independent responding. An analysis of 20 introductory psychology textbooks and 10 introductory social psychology textbooks revealed that this distorted coverage has not only persisted but increased over the past 30 years. Given the entrenchment of such coverage in current texts, a suggestion for how to address this distorted coverage without major text revision is provided.
Descriptors: Textbook Content, Textbook Bias, Textbook Standards, Social Psychology, Textbook Evaluation, Introductory Courses, Educational Experiments, Psychology, Higher Education, Content Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Information Analyses; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A