an experimental procedure and device created by Richard S. Crutchfield in 1955 to study conformity. They focused on social conformity and were part of a series of psychological studies conducted in the 1950s with the goal of increasing understanding of how people are influenced by group opinion when making personal decisions or evaluations. Designed as an improvement on Asch’s famous experiments, Critchfield sought to overcome some of the experimental limitations associated with reducing the direct pressures of personal interaction and to study conformity in a more controlled and structured environment. The experiments are notable for using an automated device to allow participants to see the opinions of others without direct contact, thereby reducing direct social influence and indirectly emphasizing the influence of group norms on individual decisions. The results showed that people tend to obey the group majority even in the absence of direct contact, and that the power of group influence is not limited to personal interaction, but can act through information about the group situation. From a psychological point of view, experiments have demonstrated that conformity arises from the desire for social harmony and acceptance within the group, even if the individual’s opinion differs from the opinion of the majority. They also demonstrated that people can change their personal judgments in response to social norms without experiencing direct pressure, highlighting the profound role of social norms in controlling behavior. From a sociological perspective, Critchfield’s experiments demonstrate that group norms are a force, independent of direct interaction, through which the powerful majority can guide individual views and decisions, strengthen social cohesion, and establish dominant norms within the group.