The median judgment for a control group was 4.0 inches. The median judgment for the experimental group was 6.8 inches. Thus, the estimates tended to stay in the ranges given by the false subjects. The behavior of individuals in crowds has some special characteristics. Normally, human beings respond to one another by interpreting one another's actions or remarks and reacting on the basis of the interpretation.
Responses follow upon interpretation.
This process is often called interpretive interaction. Another process is called circular reaction. The behavior of person A is the stimulus for a response by B. B responds directly without interpreting the stimulus. B's behavior then becomes a stimulus which intensifies the response in A, and so forth, in a circular fashion. Circular reaction may be illustrated by a herd of cattle in a state of alarm.