flower image : Flower power didn't cut it

Watchful eyes can keep people honest -- even when the eyes aren't real. Researchers at Newcastle University in Britain found that people behave differently when they subconsciously feel they are being watched.

They set up their experiment in a common area of the university's psychology department and used 48 staff members as the unwitting subjects of the study. The staff could buy coffee, tea and milk in the common room. A sign listed the prices of drinks and staff were supposed to deposit money for purchases in an "honesty" box.

As part of the experiment, researchers also put up an alternating series of images above the money box. For one week, the poster would be of a pair of eyes. The following week, the image would be replaced with a picture of flowers. Then, it was switched to an image of another pair of eyes. (The close-up images included the eyes of males and females.)

After 10 weeks, researchers found the staff put nearly three times as much money into the honesty box when they were being "watched" by poster eyes, compared with images of flowers. (Male eyes seemed to bring in the most cash.)

So, how could just a picture have this much influence on behaviour? "We think the effect was subconscious -- many people admitted not having noticed the images after the study was over," said Melissa Bateson, lead researcher of the study published in the journal Biology Letters. "We know our brains are tuned specifically to process faces and eyes, probably because knowing whether someone is watching you is so important."

The researchers think their findings could be used to help control "antisocial" behaviour. Some day, the eyes of "Big Brother" might stare down at you from road signs and other public places to encourage compliance with the law.

PAUL TAYLOR