Research participants were presented with a series of random inkblots (appearing like splattered paint) on a screen and asked to guess which of several animal shapes was reflected in the inkblots. Participants gave their answers publicly in small groups. When it was their turn to answer, participants tended to give the same answer their group members did, not because they wanted to gain their approval, but because they assumed their group members could see something that they could not. It would therefore be MOST accurate to say that participants' final answers were based on .