Sherif researched whether people are influenced by
others when they’re doing ambiguous tasks where the answer isn’t clear
Sherif (1935) name
conformity at the autokinetic
Sherif date
1935
Method: what kind of experiment is it?
a laboratory experiment with a repeated measures design
Method: Sherif used a visual illusion called the
autokinetic effect where a statutory spot of light, viewed in a dark room, appears to move
Method: participants were falsely told that the experimenter
would move the light
Method: they had to estimate how far
the light had moved
Method: in the first phase
individual participants made estimates and then they were put into groups of three
Method: when they were put into groups
they each made an estimate in front of each other
Method: after estimating in a group, they
re estimated individually
Results: when they were alone, participants
developed their own stable estimates which varied widely between participants
Results: once the participants were in a group
the estimates tended to converge and become more alike
Results: when the participants were retested
their answers were more like the groups
Conclusion: participants were influenced by
the estimates of other people and a group norm developed
Conclusion: estimates converged because
participants used each other to get information
Evaluation: what kind of study was it?
a laboratory experiment
Evaluation: due to the study being a laboratory experiment,
it allowed for strict control over the variables
Evaluation: due to the strict control over the variables
it is very likely that the experiment was unaffected by a third variable
Evaluation: it is possible to establish an
cause and effect
Evaluation: because there is an cause and effect,
the study can be replicated
Evaluation: the study is flawed because the participants
were asked to measure the distance of something that didn’t move which doesn’t happen in real life
Evaluation: because it’s an artificial situation
the study lacks ecological valdity
Evaluation: the sample used was
limited so the results can’t be generalised
Evaluation: an ethical problem is that
the study is deceptive