3 May 2019
Behavioral Studies 351
Kiley Rogers
A Study in Human Behavior Under Unexpected Circumstances
Hypothesis: When confronted with unexpected circumstances, most people are helpful and polite and would help a person through a difficult situation.
Methodology: Wear easily removable clothes and restrain myself in a public park with a notice offering passersby to release me or remove an item of clothing.
Process: I did not clear this with any professors, police, or anybody else. The circumstances needed to be totally random and unexpected to get true test results. I started by wearing a string bikini that included a tied bottom. I put on buckled sandals, a wrap skirt and a top that buttoned down the front and had shoulder straps that buttoned. I went to my chosen park and found a path I had been watching, knowing it was lightly traveled and out of sight of people in the commons area of the park. A few hundred feet up the path I hung a handcuff key from a branch, set up my sign, handcuffed my right leg to a tree, left leg to another tree so my feet were about a foot apart, slipped on a blindfold, and then handcuffed my wrists behind my back. My sign read, "Doing a science experiment. Please put the key into my handcuffs or take an item of clothing."
Results: Although blindfolded, I could sometimes tell gender from the sound of how people walked or from them talking before they reached a point where they could see me. I was standing for some time and being bothered by insects when I heard the first people approach. It was two male voices and I heard their exclamations when they first saw me. The footsteps approached and there was a pause, perhaps while they read the sign and debated their action. Now I was disappointed my experiment would end so soon and was thinking I would need to reset and have a further go when I felt hands at my skirt. My confusion soon turned to surprise as the button was released, then the inner button, and I was left without a skirt. I heard a cellphone camera shutter, then some laughter, and then their footsteps and voices were retreating as they continued on the path. Well, that person is not one of the kind and generous people who will prove my hypothesis. The situation was now even more unexpected for the next person to find me.
It was a while again before I heard voices approach. This time it was the voices of a girl and a boy, and there was the familiar sound of astonishment at finding me. Once again I was considering how long to wait before rebinding myself when the girl giggled and I felt fingers undoing first the buttons holding my top together, then the buttons holding the straps. Suddenly I was down to bathing suit and sandals. The boy commented how I was still in a bathing suit and the girl told him to shut up, that I was blindfolded, and it was exciting enough for her to help undress me. For a while I feared the boy would decide to take his own turn, knowing where his mind was, but then I heard their footsteps fade as he argued to simply strip me and she told him to keep his excitement under control for 15 minutes. (Research note: It's about 15 minutes from that spot to Winton Hall. They are probably students at the university.)
With more skin to annoy, the insects now became a greater distraction. I hadn't thought of spraying myself because, frankly, I didn't expect to be bound this long, or half undressed.
I heard footsteps, but no voice. Whoever it was seemed to be alone, and they spent some time walking around me. At one point they seemed to be near the key and I was expecting release, then they moved in front of me again and I felt a finger running from my neck to my navel. I could not tell if it was male or female, but the third time they did it I shivered. Were they smiling? Examining? Perhaps just teasing me before the release? I heard them move behind me again, then there was a tug and the bottom string of my bikini top was undone. Hanging by just the neck strap, the garment bunched in front of me, exposing my breasts. No words spoken, no vocal sound at all. Then the footsteps faded down the path once again.
By this point I knew five people had stopped where I was, read the note, and surprised me. In order to prove my hypothesis, I was going to need a lot of people handing me the key. I began contemplating a second or even third day here to get enough kind people to prove my theory.