Scarecrows work on humans too

Freakonomics is reporting on research that suggests that the scarecrow principle may work on people too: even something as simple as a picture of eyes can increase people's honesty by almost 300%. The lesson is, folks are more honest when they think they are being watched -- even on a subconscious level.

I have some doubts -- the base level of honesty is frighteningly low compared to other research. But the basic principle seems sound.