With the exception of minor modifications required for certain experiments (e.g., those in which subjects controlled either rewards or punishments for one another), the instructions shown here were used for all experiments in the program. Each subject was referred to by a particular letter. To avoid the evaluative connotations that student subjects might attach to the letters normally associated with academic grades (i.e., A, B, C, and D), the four actors in the network were instead labeled W, X, Y, and Z. These instructions are written for Person X; consequently, they refer to the subject's two interaction partners as Persons W and Y – the partners for Person X.

Screen 1

WELCOME TO THE SOCIAL INTERACTION EXPERIMENT!

You are participating in this experiment with 3 other students. Like you, they volunteered for the experiment to earn money. During the experiment, you will interact with one another by using the computers on your desks. The choices you make will affect how much money you earn.

Because we don't want your interaction to be influenced by personal characteristics like sex or appearance, you will not meet or talk to each other either during or after the experiment. You will interact only through the computers, which are connected to a larger computer in the control room. The computer records your responses for future data analysis.

During the experiment, you will use the computer mouse on your desk to make choices that will affect each other's earnings.