One of the first researchers to study social influence in ambiguous situations was Muzafer Sherif. He took advantage of the autokinetic phenomenon, an illusion in which a stationary pinpoint of light in a totally dark room appears to move.

The illusion is based on the fact that our eyes are constantly moving back and forth in small increments but we don't notice it because our brain corrects for the movement so that we perceive a stationary world. However, in total darkness the brain loses its frame of reference and perceives the light to be moving rather than the eyes.