A new study uses advanced brain-scanning technology to cast light onto a topic that (1) ______
psychologists have puzzled over more than half a century: social conformity. The study (2) ______
was based on a famous series of laboratory experiment from the 1950’s by a social (3) ______
psychologist, Dr. Solomon Asch. In those early studies, the subjects were shown two
cards. On the first was a vertical line. On the second were three lines, one of them the
same length with that on the first card. Then the subjects were asked to say which two (4) ______
lines were like, something that most 5-year-olds could answer correctly. But Dr. Asch (5) ______
added a twist. Seven other people, in cahoots with the researchers, also examined the lines
and gave their answers before the subjects did. And Sometimes these confederates unconsciously (6) ______
gave the right answer. Dr. Asch was astonished at what happened next. After thinking hard, (7) ______
three out of four subjects agreed with the incorrect answers given by the confederates at least (8) ______
once. And one in four conformed 50 percent of the time. Dr. Asch, who died in 1996, always
wondered about the findings. Did the people who gave in to group do so knowing that their
answers was right Or did the social pressure actually change their perceptions The
researchers found that social conformity showed up in the brain like activity in regions that (9) ______
are entirely devoted to perception. But independence of judgment--standing up for one’s
beliefs -- showed up as activity in brain areas involved in emotion, the study found,
suggesting that there be a cost for going against the group. (10) ______