A psychologist recruits 30 adults for a series of paid computer-based studies. Before the series begins, each adult signs a form agreeing that some studies may involve deception, although they will not be told which ones.

In one study, each participant types a response to a workplace problem. A false warning then appears stating that the participant has permanently deleted another person’s work. The psychologist records how long the participant takes to report the apparent mistake. An ethics committee approves the procedure after deciding that new knowledge about reporting mistakes is worth the risk of brief guilt.

An ‘End session’ button remains visible throughout the task. However, participants have been told that they will receive the full payment only if they complete every task. At the end, they rate their guilt from 1, ‘not at all guilty’, to 5, ‘extremely guilty’. The psychologist then tells them that the session is finished without revealing that the warning was false or explaining the real aim.

The study produces the following information:

In the research report, the psychologist publishes each participant’s exact age, occupation, response time and typed response, but not their name.