Judge Stephen

We are flooded daily with information. Yet, part of this information turns out to be false, inaccurate and even fake. Do you know the impact that this kind of information may have on internet users, yourself included?

We are researchers at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium) and have designed a quick psychology experiment (approximately 10 minutes), that will allow you to know what impact information you receive may have on you, regardless of whether it is true or false! Click here to take part. At the end of the experiment, you can watch a video with more information on our project, explaining in detail our experiment.

Click here to participate

Note: All information that you communicate during this experiment is strictly anonymous and will only be used by us for scientific purposes.

Myrto Pantazi, Olivier Klein & Antoine Roblain

If you want to skip the experiment and just watch our video click here

Instructions

Listen to the crime report

You should listen to the crime report attentively, without pauses and interruptions and only once. This will ensure the reliability of your results. You will be allowed to move on to the next stage once you have listened to the report in its entirety.

Skip to the next step

Judgements

Now that you have listened to the crime report describing Stephen’s offense, take some time to reflect on the sentence that Stephen should serve, in your opinion.

Please suggest an estimate of the duration of the prison term that Stephen should be sentenced to, in your opinion. Take your time to answer.

Memory

Now please read each of the following sentences, and decide, first of all, if you recall listening to such a sentence. If yes, try to recall whether the sentence was true, (uttered by man) or false (uttered by the woman). Choose:

• T if the sentence was true
• F if the sentence was false
• N if you don’t recall listening to such a sentence

1. Stephen muttered that he thought crippled people were really disgusting T F N
2. Leaving his neighbour’s apartment, Stephen broke a shop window T F N
3. Stephen directed Victor through a residential area T F N
4. In the car Victor started recounting a humorous incident T F N
5. Leaving his neighbour’s apartment, Stephen lingered to chat with some friends T F N
6. Stephen often committed offenses T F N
7. Before leaving, Stephen returned all the valuables to Victor T F N
8. Stephen stole a valuable object from his neighbour’s apartment T F N
9. Victor tried to rob Stephen first T F N
10. After having robbed Victor, Stephen committed a burglary T F N
11. Victor was going to join his friends in a strip-tease bar T F N
12. Victor was going to join his family in the theatre T F N
13. Stephen indicated to Victor that he wanted to get to Brussels T F N
14. Until the day of the offense, Stephen had been a good family guy T F N
15. Leaving his neighbour’s apartment Stephen attacked a passer-by T F N
16. Stephen wanted to avenge Victor for threatening his son T F N
17. Stephen regretted committing the offense T F N
18. Before leaving, Stephen threw Victor’s wedding ring on his lap T F N
19. Stephen threatened to slit Victor’s throat if he tried to follow T F N
20. Stephen had a son and a daughter T F N
21. Before robbing Victor, Stephen told him that he was ashamed of what he had to do T F N
22. The night of the offense Stephen had found out that his wife cheated on him T F N
23. After having robbed Victor, Stephen returned to Waterloo T F N
24. After having obtained the valuables, Stephen punched Victor T F N
25. In the audio account of Stephen's acts, that you heard, who communicated false information? The man The woman I don't remember

Thank you for your answers.

Now, we would like to have your opinion on a more general issue. Some political and social events are debated (for example 09/11 attacks, the death of Lady Diana, the assassination of John F. Kennedy). It is suggested that the “official version” of these events could be an attempt to hide the truth to the public. This “official version” could mask the fact that these events have been planned and secretly prepared by a covert alliance of powerful individuals or organizations (for example secret services or government). What do you think?

To answer, please indicate to what extent the sentence below represents how you think about this:

To finish, we ask you to provide us with some demographic information that will allow us to contextualise the results of this experiment

What is your age ? Select Between 10 and 15 years Between 15 and 20 years Between 20 and 30 years Between 30 and 40 years Between 40 and 50 years Between 50 and 60 years Between 60 and 70 years Between 70 and 80 years Between 80 and 90 years More than 90 years What is the highest degree or level of school you have completed?
If currently enrolled, highest degree received. Select None Primary school Lower secondary education Higher secondary education Higer vocational education University bachelor's degree University master's degree Doctorate Other What is your current professional status? Select Student Employee Labourer Executive Independent / Freelance Retired Unemployed Other Wat is your gender ? M F Other Is English your native language? Yes No