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Majority and minority influence, task representation and inductive reasoning
Author(s) -
Butera Fabrizio,
Mugny Gabriel,
Legrenzi Paolo,
Pérez Juan A.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8309.1996.tb01087.x
Subject(s) - psychology , test (biology) , task (project management) , set (abstract data type) , social psychology , representation (politics) , inductive reasoning , cognitive psychology , artificial intelligence , computer science , paleontology , management , politics , political science , law , economics , biology , programming language
One hundred and fifty‐five participants had to solve a set of 2–4–6 like reasoning problems (Wason, 1960), in which they were told which hypothesis a majority (or a minority) proposed, as well as which example was used for the test. In a 2 × 2 design, participants were also told that the problems allowed either one single correct answer or several possible answers. Results show that, when the source is a majority and the problem allows one single answer, most participants adopt the source's hypothesis and use confirmatory testing. On the contrary, it is when the source is a minority and the problem allows several answers that most participants give alternative hypotheses and use disconfirmation.