Sally, Ann, and Asch

Advanced Theory of Mind is often cited as one of the key characteristics which make humans unique. Other primates can be shown to have a lesser developed Theory of Mind, as showed by scientists at Tomasello’s lab (Gazzaniga 51) in the false-belief Sally and Ann task. The apes are at about the same level as a child before he reaches the age of four or five. In order to pass this task, the subject needs to be able to realize that one of the other participants has a false belief about the location of an object (one that the subject saw moved while the other was out of the room). This has long been a type of standard in evaluating Theory of Mind. Taking these results as precedent, it is a little disconcerting to examine Solomon Asch’s line test, which has become a classic example in social psychology. The set-up for his experiment was to plant the subject in a room with seven confederates. Essentially, the process was to show the participants series of lines, asking which one was the longest. Going down the row, one by one, each participant would answer with his or her opinion as to which was the longest, the true subject being asked last, after hearing everyone else’s answer. Asch was sure to make all of the lengths distinct, so that it would be relatively obvious which line was the longest (Gazzaniga 144).
After a series in which all of the participants were correct, Asch had his planted participants answer incorrectly, stating that the lines were of equal length, or even the opposite of their true relation. The real subject, being last in the line, would hear all of these answers and more often than not, would agree with the incorrect response (Gazzaniga 144). Psychologists tell us that the percentage who agreed changed if there was even one other person present who stated the correct answer (Aronson 242).
After discussing their performance with the experimenters, it seemed that people had different reasons for going along with the group, such as avoiding embarrassment or thinking there was something wrong with their own perception (Aronson 242). This experiment is usually interpreted in light of the field of social psychology. So the results are credited to the effect of social pressure on a person’s behavior.
There is nothing unfounded in the interpretation of these results, and since it has become a classic experiment in social psychology, it obviously has provided huge insights. It might be important though, to examine the similarity the set up of this procedure has to that of the Sally and Ann task. Some of the participants claimed to think that they themselves had false beliefs about the length of the line. However, these opinions seemed based off of their Theory of Mind which said that the others in the group had had correct opinions in the past, so perhaps the majority was right. This occurred even though the subjects thought they had seen something contradictory. Isn’t this what happens in the false-belief test? A participant who has provided consistently correct answers provides a guess which is in opposition to what the subject has seen, but those with underdeveloped Theory of Mind still say that the other is correct. Although it is not likely that apes responded incorrectly because they were embarrassed to contradict the other, they were assuming the other to be right, which seems to be a relatively simple form of what the subjects in Asch’s experiment based their answers upon. Perhaps a new indicator of Theory of Mind is in demand.

Aronson, Elliot, et al. Social Psychology. Prentice Hall: New Jersey, 2007. pp. 240-245.

Asch, S. (1956). Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority. Psychological Monographs 70: 1-70.

Call, J., and Tomasello, M. (1999). A nonverbal false belief task: The performance of children and great apes. Child Development 70: 381-95.

Gazzaniga, Michael S. Human: The Science Behind What Makes Us Unique. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. pp. 51, 144.