Sheriff Experiment

Front 1

Sherifs aim and procedure

Back 1

Sherif (1935) - the auto kinetic effect
This was one of the earliest studies of conformity. Sherif placed groups of three participants into a darkened room and projected a small stationary point of light onto a screen. In the auto kinetic effect, a stationary dot of light in a darkened room appears to move slightly and Sherif asked his participants to estimate how far the point of light was moving.

Front 2

Findings

Back 2

Sherif found that when participants gave their initial estimates they were very different from one another, however when participants were told what other participants had estimated then the estimates became more similar over successive trials.

Front 3

Conclusion

Back 3

Sherif concluded that people have an in-built tendency to conform to the group opinion rather than remain individual in their opinions. In other words when they are unsure about the correct answer, they will look to others as they may know more or be more skilled. This is especially the case when people do not have the information necessary to make their own opinions, but they still have the desire to be right. The participants had conformed due to informational social influence.

Front 4

Evaluation

Back 4

•Ambiguous stimulus. The auto kinetic effect is a particularly ambiguous stimulus as participants imagine that a stationary spot of light is moving when it is not. Because it was impossible for Sherif to measure how far it was moving, and because it was impossible to provide a ‘correct’ answer, then it was also impossible to say for certain that the participants in the experiment had actually conformed.

•Ecological validity. 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.