Page 38 - The Social Animal

20 The Social Animal

is construct an experimental situation that is somewhat like the one
in which Sam found himself, and we can control and vary the fac-
tors we think might be important. Such a basic situation was de-
8
vised by Solomon Asch in a classic set of experiments. Put yourself
in the following situation: You have volunteered to participate in an
experiment on perceptual judgment. You enter a room with four
other participants.The experimenter shows all of you a straight line
(line X). Simultaneously, he shows you three other lines for com-
parison (lines A, B, and C). Your job is to judge which of the three
lines is closest in length to line X. The judgment strikes you as
being a very easy one.

It is perfectly clear to you that line B is the correct answer, and
when your turn comes, you will clearly say that B is the one. But it’s
not your turn to respond.The young man whose turn it is looks care-
fully at the lines and says, “Line A.” Your mouth drops open and you
look at him quizzically. “How can he believe it’s A when any fool can
see that it’s B?” you ask yourself. “He must be either blind or crazy.”
Now it’s the second person’s turn to respond. He also chooses line A.
You begin to feel like Alice in Wonderland. “How can it be?” you ask
yourself. “Are both of these people blind or crazy?” But then the next
person responds, and he also says, “Line A.” You take another look
at those lines. “Maybe I’m the only one who’s crazy,” you mutter in-
audibly. Now it’s the fourth person’s turn, and he also judges the cor-
rect line to be A. Finally, it’s your turn. “Why, it’s line A, of course,”
you declare. “I knew it all the time.”
This is the kind of conflict that the college students in Asch’s ex-
periment went through. As you might imagine, the individuals who
answered first were in the employ of the experimenter and were in-
structed to agree on an incorrect answer.The perceptual judgment it-