Scientists showed volunteers patterns of dots on a computer and asked them to tell which side of the screen contained more dots, the right or left. Here’s the kicker: the researchers gave the subjects a higher reward if they selected the right side, even if it was incorrect. And with this incentive, subjects were more likely to cheat in the afternoon than in the morning.
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In another experiment the scientists showed the subjects fragments of words, and asked them to complete the word. For example, they might see the last three letters, R, A, L, of a five-letter word. And surprisingly in the morning the participants tended come up with the word “moral” whereas in the afternoon the word of choice was “coral.”
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