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The Princess Alice effect

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


Video of the Week #59 September 6th, 2012:

From:Imaginary Presidents and Imaginary Gods: The Real Empty Chair Effect by Jesse Bering at Bering in Mind.


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Source:Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman

This week s video is a re-enactment of Jesse Bering s Princess Alice study from the latest episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman. Bering s work examines how the behavior of children is affected by an invisible person watching over them. The Princess Alice effect shows that children are less likely to cheat when they believe in an invisible figure looming over them an interesting and rather timely piece based on certain shenanigans at the Republican National Convention this week.