Sherif's autokinetic effect experiment

• Sherif conducted the Autokinetic effect experiment in 1935 to investigate conformity in ambiguous situations.
• The aim of Sherif's Autokinetic effect experiment was to explore whether people would conform to group norms when placed in an ambiguous situation where there was no clear answer.
• The autokinetic effect is an optical illusion in which a small, stationary point of light in a dark room appears to move due to the absence of reference points.
• Procedure:

  • participants placed in a dark room
  • asked to estimate how far a point of light appeared to move
  • first made individual estimates, then estimated in groups of 3 to share answers, and then estimated individually again.
• Findings:

  • individual estimates varied greatly (by 20-80cm)
  • in groups, estimates converged to a common estimate
  • individuals adjusted their estimates to align with the common group estimate
• Sherif's study suggests that people conform to group norms in ambiguous situations, as they look to others for guidance when they are uncertain, supporting the concept of informational social influence (ISI).
• Sherif's study demonstrates internalisation, where the individuals genuinely change their beliefs to align with the group, as they accept the group's answers as correct in the ambiguous situation.