In one of the first social psychological experiments ever conducted, researcher Norman Triplett examined the records of teams of cyclists. He found that cyclists who raced against each other ____ than those who raced alone (against the clock) .

A) were more aggressive after the race
B) got into more accidents
C) cycled more quickly
D) enjoyed the race less

Norman Triplett's research is one of the earliest examples of social facilitation theory in psychology. He discovered that cyclists tend to perform better (i.e., cycle more quickly) when they are in the presence of competitors compared to when they are racing alone. This finding suggests that the presence of others can enhance performance on certain tasks.