Recall that Muzafer Sherif (1936) used the autokinetic effect to measure participants' estimates of the apparent movement of a stationary spot of light. In what sense did Sherif's findings illustrate informational social influence?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: There was no objectively "right" or "wrong" answer about how much the light was moving. There are great individual differences in people's estimates of the apparent movements. Sherif put participants in a dark room with other participants. As each individual participant made estimates, those estimates served as information for other participants about the movement of the light. Over time, this shared information yielded group norms in estimates. The room was dark, so participants could not see others or be seen, and so normative pressures did not likely operate; in addition, group norms developed, and were used later by lone participants who made individual estimates. This suggests that informational conformity was in operation, not normative conformity.