Two substantive areas of psychology are social influence and psychopathology. The more recognized area in psychological studies is social influence. Social influence is action, reaction, thoughts, feelings, attitude or behavior that result from interaction with another individual or a group and is the study of conformity and obedience. Psychopathological disorder is schizophrenia, it is a mental illness that makes it difficult for an individual to recognize what is real and what is unreal. Various theoretical causes of schizophrenia include biological explanations such as genetics and chemicals in the brain. German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin was the first person to describe features of schizophrenia. People with schizophrenia may have problems with talking, remembering and how to behave in society. Schizophrenia is a serious illness and effects 1% of the population globally. It is known that this brain illness affects normal and intelligent people. .
Conformity is defined by David Myers (1999) as change of behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure. Jenness (1932) was the first person to study conformity then Sherif (1935), Asch (1952), Crutchfield (1956), Haney, Banks and Zibmardo (19730, Perrin & Spencer (1982) they all studied conformity. Jenness (1932) was the first psychologist to study conformity he used beans sealed in a glass jar. The method used in this study was that 26 participants were to estimate number of beans in a jar. Then they were split into groups where they discussed the amount of beans in a jar for 15 minutes. The findings were that the participants were changing their minds and participants had conformed towards a group estimate. This theory demonstrates informational social influence. Jennesse's research was criticized, as his experiment was not taken out in ecologically valid circumstances. Students were in unfamiliar place and they did want to get the answer right so they followed their peers.