Cave Experiment: A study of human behavior and social isolation
Abstract:
Preferential association with a group and rivalry amongst different tribes have been documented for centuries. This experiment aimed to study an individual's social bias for his/her group.
Design of the Experiment:
Twenty-two boys from two-parent households with similar backgrounds, all within 11-12 years of age were the subjects for this experiment. They were made to believe that they were attending a summer camp, and were unfamiliar with each other before the study.
A three-phase study was conducted as follows:
Phase 1:
The boys were split into two groups, neither aware of the other's presence in the camp. The experimenters posed as camp instructors for the entirety of the experiment.
Phase 2:
The two groups were then introduced to each other by the instructors, with the intent of provoking hostilities. This was achieved through competitive games of tug-of-war, baseball and the like. The winners were rewarded, while the losing side went empty-handed.
Phase 3: Integration Stage
The next phase aimed at mitigating the conflict by introducing a common aim for both groups. Accordingly, both groups were relocated and tasked with fixing a vandalized water supply system. Further, they were asked to agree upon a movie to watch and devise ways to pay for it.
Conclusion:
The experimental results were in agreement with the Realistic Conflict Theory. The first phase saw no trace of conflict within the groups since they were all apparently part of a single team. The boys began to gel well with their own group mates.
In the second phase, name-calling and bragging by the winning team were observed in the competitions. The groups sat separately for their meals.
The final phase coerced the two groups to make peace in the course of collaborating to successfully achieve the same goal. The end result was that all the boys ate their meals together and also traveled back on the same bus.
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