Psychologists have discovered that even the most independent－minded of us will conform

Psychologists have discovered that even the most independent-minded of us will conform. to social pressure when we are with a group of people. In one classie experiment, people were showna vertical line and asked to find a line of identical length from a selection of three.

You might think that this is an absurdly easy task, and when people perform. it by themselves they do it very well. However, psychologists have discovered that we are very easily swayed by the opinions of other people when we do this task in a group. In one study, a group of three people was set up,where two of the people were confederates(同伙 )of the experimenter.When the confederates deliberately gave wrong answers,people were often swayed to give the wrong answer also. In fact, 75% of people gave at least o ne wrong answer, with some people conforming to peer pressure on every occasion.

But why do people conform. in this way？ In an easy task like this, it seems that people do not want to step out of line with the prevailing opinion of the group. On more difficult tasks, people also conform. because they lose onfidence in their own ability to make decisions and prefer to trust the majority opinion instead.

A typical example of this kind of conformity arises when we come across people in distress. Would you help a woman who has been attacked in the street？It turns out that you are much more likely to go to her assistance if you are alone.When other people are also around,a diffusion of responsibility occurs. People are paralysed into inaction, because everyone assumes that someone else will go to the woman' s assistance.

25. In Paragraph 1, the underlined word "conform" probably means“ ()”.

A.seek independence

B.disobey orders

C.seek pleasure

D.follow what others do

26.What is the purpose of the experiment described in Paragraph 2？ To().

A.explain why people would be influenced by the opinions of others

B.prove that people are easily influenced by the opinions of others

C.train the confederates of the experimenter as independent-minded

D.describe how people would be influenced by the opinions of others

27.In the last paragraph, according to the author,why wouldn’t one help the woman ？He().

A.thinks he has no responsibilities to give a hand