This paper considers learning rules for environments in which little prior and feedback information is available to the decision maker. Two properties of such learning rules are studied: absolute expediency and monotonicity. Both require that some aspect of the decision maker’s performance improves from the current period to the next. The paper provides some necessary, and some sufficient condi...

Conformity is an often criticized feature of human belief formation. Although generally regarded as a negative influence on reliability, it has not been widely studied. This paper attempts to determine the epistemic effects of conformity by analyzing a mathematical model of this behavior. In addition to investigating the effect of conformity on the reliability of individuals and groups, this pa...

Attitudes of conformity can be understood as a product of adaptation. Existing models of conformity invoke preference falsification with individuals hiding their true preferences. We posit an adaptive mechanism for conformity. Because non-conformity leads to costs as a dissenting individual is shut out of social networks and majority coalitions, individuals have an incentive to sublimate their ...

I provide a full characterization of the set of absolutely expedient learning rules introduced in Börgers, Morales, and Sarin (2004) [“Expedient and monotone learning rules,” Econometrica, 72, 383–405]. The expected change in the expected payoff can be written as a quadratic form on the vector of relative expected payoffs of the strategies. This permits use of standard linear algebra arguments ...

Conformity and achievement-related characteristics of 10 hospitalized depressed patients and 11 matched acute schizophrenics were studied in an Asch-type conformity situation, and by the use of self-report inventories. It was found that in the conformity situation, depressed Ss showed a greater tendency to conform to social pressure than did the controls. When conformity and achievement were as...

A meta-analysis of conformity studies using an Asch-type line judgment task (1952b, 1956) was conducted to investigate whether the level of conformity has changed over time and whether it is related crogs-culturally to individualism-collectivism. The fiterature search produced 133 studies drawn from 17 countries. An analysis of U.S. studies found that conformity has declined since the 1950s. Re...

This study investigated the role of self-monitoring in relation to self-reported and behavioral conformity. Ninety-three female undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory to psychology course were administered a questionnaire packet consisting of the Lennox and Wolfe Revised Self-Monitoring Scale (RSMS), a self-reported measure of conformity, and a series of vignettes, both designed by ...

The current study used a novel methodology based on multivocal ethnography to assess the relations between conformity and evaluations of intelligence and good behavior among Western (U.S.) and non-Western (Ni-Vanuatu) children (6- to 11-year-olds) and adolescents (13- to 17-year-olds; N = 256). Previous research has shown that U.S. adults were less likely to endorse high-conformity children as ...

People often conform to the behavior of others with whom they identify. However, it is unclear what fundamental mechanisms underlie this type of conformity. Here, we investigate the processes mediating in-group conformity by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants completed a perceptual decision-making task while undergoing fMRI, during which they were exposed to the ju...