Classic Study Flashcards
What is the classic study for Social Psychology
Sherifs 1954/1961 robbers cave experiment
What was the aim of sherifs 1954/1961 robbers cave experiment
To see if comp for scarce resources was created between an in group and an out group whether prejudice would arise
And to see if prejudice did arise could it be reduced via superordinate goals
Why was sherifs aim useful to consider
Furthers our understanding of potential causes of prejudice
Also gives us a strategy we could use to reduce prejudice
Who were sherifs participants
22, 12 year old boys all from Oklahoma, white, middle class, Protestant, two parent families, similar IQ and sporting ability
Why were sherifs participants so similar?
To ensure that if prejudice did occur it was due to the competition for scarce resources and no underlying stereotypes
What experimental design did sherif use
Matched pairs design
What type of experiment did Sherif use
Field experiment
What was Sherifs procedure
Stage one - in group formation
Stage two - competition for scarce resources
Stage three - superordinate goals
What were the findings of sherifs robbers cave experiment?
Stage one - boys formed hierarchys, names themselves eagles and rattlers
Stage two - researchers had to break up fights, one group raided the others cabin, burned the others flag and 93% of boys said that they only had friends in the in group
Stage three - the two groups got along better and 30% of boys said that they had friends in the out group
What did Sherif conclude
Comp for scarce resources = prejudice
Superordinate goals reduces prejudice
What was the generalisability of sherifs robbers cave experiment like?
Low,
All similar
However, getting different pp would have led to other practical issues
What was the reliability of sherifs robbers cave experiment?
High,
Standardised procedure, easily repeatable, increases reliability
Low,
As it was a field experiment did not have control over all the variables
What was the applicability of sherifs robbers cave experiment like?
High,
Furthers understanding of causes and gives a strategy to reduce
However,
Strategy hard to implicate in an environment with little control
What was the validity of sherifs robbers cave experiment like?
High,
In the pp natural environment and the pp were unaware that they were in a study
What were the ethics like of sherifs robbers cave experiment
Low,
Potentially encouraged prejudice to occur between the boys and not protected from harm as there were fights
High,
They did gain consent from the parents
