Norman Triplett (1861-1931) was a psychologist at Indiana University. In 1898, he wrote what is now recognized as the first published study in the field of social psychology (Strube, 2005). His experiment was on the social facilitation effect. Triplett noticed that cyclists tend to have faster times when riding in the presence of other cyclists than when riding alone. He then demonstrated this effect in a controlled, laboratory experiment and concluded that children perform a simple lab task faster in pairs than when performing by themselves.
Triplett discussed several possible explanations for his findings and concluded that the "bodily presence of another contestant participating simultaneously in the race serves to liberate latent energy not ordinarily available" (Triplett, 1898). Social facilitation has received much attention from social psychologists since Triplett's time, with a number of causal factors implicated, including mere presence, evaluation apprehension, competition, attention, and distraction. Ironically, although the phenomenon of social facilitation is now well established, Triplett's original experiment did not produce strong results, at least by modern standards in psychology (Strubbe, 2005).
In addition to his pioneering work in social and sport psychology, Triplett was also interested in the psychology of magic. He developed an extensive list of conjuring tricks and detailed some of the principles involved, such as concealment and suggestion (Triplett, 1900).
References
- Strubbe, M. J. (2005). What did Triplett really find? A contemporary analysis of the first experiment in social psychology. American Journal of Psychology, 118, 271-286.
- Triplett, N. (1898). The dynamogenic factors in pacemaking and competition. American Journal of Psychology, 9, 507-533.
- Triplett, N. (1900). The psychology of conjuring deceptions, American Journal of Psychology, 11, 439-510.
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