Siffre (1975) 6 months alone in a cave

• The experiments Siffre conducted on himself:

  • Recording blood pressure
  • Tasks to measure mental acuity
  • Tasks to measure memory
  • Tasks to measure physical dexterity
• Siffre's tests to measure physical dexterity:

  • A bicycle machine to cycle 3 miles
  • Firing a pellet rifle to test coordination
  • Threaded beads on string
• How long did Siffre go without seeing daylight?


  6 months
• Strengths and weaknesses of Siffre's (1975) cave experiment


  + Lots of detailed qualitative & quantitative data was produced - He kept a lot of data about his mental/bodily functioning

  + The study was done over a long period of time (6 months)

  - The strong lights could have affected his internal body clock, acting as cues

  - The findings are not generalisable - there were many extraneous variables (mice, damp, etc)
• Aim of Siffre (1975)

  • To investigate the effects of living underground in a cave without external cues on the 24-hour sleep-wake cycle.