Sherif (1935)

Question 1

aims

Answer 1

investigate effects of informational social influence

Question 2

procedure

Answer 2

autokinetic effect to demonstrate conformity.
condition 1 - • Participants were first asked to judge, individually, over several trials, how far the light appeared to move
condition 2 - The participants were then put into groups of three, and asked to estimate again, announcing their estimate of group aloud
condition 3 - They were then asked to go back to estimating individually

Question 3

findings

Answer 3

• in condition 1, each individual’s estimates were relatively stable, but there was considerable variation between participants
• condition 2, their group answer tended to be an average of the individual estimates.
  condition 3 - • In condition 3, the individual participants tended to maintain the group norm

Question 4

conclusions

Answer 4

• This study shows that when faced with an ambiguous situation the participants looked to others for help and guidance. This can be explained by informational social influence, as the participants will changed their thoughts and actions because they were uncertain what estimate to give in this ambiguous situation.

Question 5

eval point

Answer 5

Ecological: • The task used by Sherif is far from an everyday task that represents everyday life. It is hard to imagine that people would often discuss how far a point of light appears to be moving in a darkened room, and so the study lacks ecological validity - trivial task, not serious so people may not have felt strongly enough to wanto change answer

Question 6

eval

Answer 6

applications:
• These findings can be used to show that working in groups can be useful (or problematic) if there is no exact answer. Educators may consider the use of groups when asking students to complete difficult tasks