Triplett - social facilitation

Question 1

Background - Triplett

Answer 1

1. Worked as a school system superintendent and high school teacher
2. Published first ever study in social psychology
3. PhD on psychology of magic

Question 2

Background - cycling competitions

Answer 2

1. Triplett was a keen sportsman
2. He noticed cyclists ride faster when in a group from analysing results from cycling events
3. Used races against other riders, paced races against time and unpaced races against time
4. Results - races against other riders and paced races are faster than unpaced races, improvement over unpaced races - races against other riders 26%, paced races 23%
5. Suction - vacuum, left behind the pacing machine draws the rider following along with it
6. Shelter - following a rider provides shelter from wind resistance
7. Encouragement - the presence of a friend on the pacing machine to encourage and keep up the spirits of the rider
8. Worry - leading a race or keeping the pace requires a greater deal of concentration or worry than following the pace
9. Hypnotic suggestion - strained attention to the wheel of the pacing bike produces hypnotism
10. Automatic - followers can ride automatically as they need to pay less attention to strategy
11. Dynamogenic - this theory of competition holds that the bodily presence of another rider is a stimulus to the racer in arousing the competitive instinct that another can thus be the means of releasing or freeing nervous energy

Question 3

The study - self critique of cycling data

Answer 3

1. Triplett highlighted limitations of his cycling analysis
2. “Regarding the faster time of the paced races, as derived from the records, it may be asked whether the difference is due to pacing or to the kind of men who take part”
3. “Men fast at one kind of racing are found to be comparatively slow at another”
4. “The racer finds by experience that race in which he or she is best fitted to excel and specialise in that”

Question 4

The study - method

Answer 4

1. Competition machine - two fishing reels that each pull a flag across a 4m circuit when reeled rapidly
2. Stopwatch and kymograph - record the time and a graphical record of the rate at which participants turned the fishing reel
3. N=40 children 8-17
4. Practice rounds - until all children were familiar with the machine
5. 6 trials of 4 rounds, lasting 30-40 seconds each with 5 mins rest in between
6. Group A - alone, competition, alone, competition, alone, competition
7. Group B - alone, alone, competition, alone, competition, alone

Question 5

The study - results

Answer 5

1. No statistical analysis at the time, presentation of raw data and drawings
2. 3 tables presented:
3. Positively stimulated - N=20, had faster times in competition
4. Overstimulated - N=10, had slower times in competition
5. Little affected - N=10, same times competition and alone

Question 6

the study - interpretation

Answer 6

1. Overstimulated children rather than lack of motivation
2. “With them stimulation brought a loss of control”
3. “an intense desire to win often resulting in overstimulation”
4. “accompanying phenomena were laboured breathing, flushed faces and a stiffening or contraction of the muscles in the arm”

Question 7

debate and controversy - statistical analysis of data

Answer 7

1. Triplett did not have statistical techniques available
2. Strube (2005) - analysis, showed significant competition effect in trial 3 between group A (comp.) and group B (alone) - no other significant differences
3. Within subjects analysis - contrast between average competition times and average alone times shows significant but small difference
   Small reduction of 1.81% in trial times

Question 8

debate and controversy - improve or inhibit performance

Answer 8

1. Triplett made detailed suggestion on the processes behind the effect he observed
2. Other researchers looked more closely at the conditions under which groups reduce performance
   - Ringelmann - social loafing
   - Zajonc - social facilitation and social loafing in animals and humans
   - Latane - social inhibition

Question 9

debate and controversy - ringelmann effect

Answer 9

1. Conducted studies in 1880s that examined how group size affects individual effort
2. Published in 1913 in a french agricultural journal

Question 10

debate and controversy - task, men in groups pull on rope

Answer 10

1. dependent variable - force
2. Result - increase in total force exerted is less than would be expected from the addition of individual scores

Question 11

debate and controversy - Zajonc’s integration

Answer 11

1. Inconsistencies in findings regarding social facilitation stifle research in the 1940s and 1950s
2. Zajonc uses drive theory to explain inconsistencies
3. Presence of other people as source of arousal
4. Arousal tends to facilitate the dominant response
   simple/well learned tasks - dominant responses tend to be correct
5. Presence of other should lead to social facilitation
   complex/novel tasks - dominant responses usually incorrect or inefficient
6. Presence of others should lead to social inhibition

Question 12

debate and controversy - differences in other present

Answer 12

1. Social facilitation research - observers, coactors, audience members, lead to arousal, evaluation, distraction
2. Social loafing research - coworkers or teammates, opportunity to reduce efforts

Question 13

Impact - copresence

Answer 13

1. Triplett’s work sparked hundreds of studies on the way the presence of other people affects individual motivation and effort
2. Different others: observers, coactors/coworkers, audiences
3. Different tasks: simple, well-learned, complex/novel
4. Animals and humans
5. Underlying processes
6. Development of theories

Question 14

impact - workplace

Answer 14

1. working from home - less social facilitation, potentially less productive on routine tasks, social loafing, diffusion of responsibility is still an issue, complex tasks, fewer distractions
2. Open plan office - more social facilitation, potentially higher productivity for routine tasks, social loafing potential issues for complex tasks but easier to find help and support