The Asch Conformity Experiments — Seeing What Isn’t There

In 1951, at Swarthmore College, psychologist Solomon Asch invited male students to participate in what he called a simple 'vision test'. The task seemed straightforward. Subjects were shown two large white cards. One displayed a single vertical line, the 'standard'. The other card showed three comparison lines of clearly different lengths. All the participant had to do was say which of the three lines matched the standard. The correct answer was always obvious. Asch designed it this way to challenge earlier studies that used ambiguous tasks. He wanted to know what would happen when the truth was right before your eyes, but everyone around you claimed to see something else. The first two trials went smoothly, with everyone in the room agreeing on the correct line. Then, things changed.