Conformity : in the real-life lab

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Summary

When people decide whether or not to follow the crowd, what happens inside their brains? This ABC News program explores that question, highlighting neurological research that helps explain conformi...

When people decide whether or not to follow the crowd, what happens inside their brains? This ABC News program explores that question, highlighting neurological research that helps explain conformity and sheds light on the complex relationship between group and individual behavior. Placing test subjects in candid-camera style settings, the program illustrates how social pressures can alter visual perception and interpretation-often causing people to behave strangely or give answers they know are wrong, simply to avoid looking different. The implications of these misadventures are backed up by MRI experiments that study brain activity.

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