« Recommended reading | Main | More reading »
April 03, 2008
Conformity
When I was in fifth grade, I did a science fair project that probably doesn't meet ethical standards for experiments on human subjects. I took a bunch of unscented water, dyed it various colors, and put it into sealed clear cups. Then I told my class that I was testing how scents traveled, and had people stand up or raise their hands when they smelled each liquid, and I uncovered the colored scentless waters one by one. Of the 25 or so kids in my class, all but one stood up each time - first the kids in front, then slowly the kids in back, though some kids with really strong noses in the back of the class stood up faster than you might expect. Only one kid, Sarah Barakis or something like that, insisted that she didn't smell anything. Everyone else picked on her and told her she was nuts, even though she was the only one who was actually right.
I wonder how many of my attitudes about conformity were born on that day?
It's probably cruel and insufficiently empathetic of me, but I think of that experiment every time I read an article like this.
Posted by Courtney_Sherwood at April 3, 2008 09:30 PM
Comments
Did you then tell the class the truth?
Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2008 12:36 AM
Yes, I'm sure I did, but I don't really remember the details.
Posted by: Courtney at April 4, 2008 06:36 AM
They did a study like that involving visual things ("which line is the longest" when all the lines are the same length, and such). Most people will lie and pretend to see what everyone else sees. I find it surprising. But I wonder how much they know they're lying and how much they've convinced themselves there is a scent or a long line or whatever, since the "authority figure" claims there is.
Posted by: Rachel at April 6, 2008 06:15 AM