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Lost wallets which contain a snapshot of a baby are more likely to be returned to their owners, scientists have discovered.
Researchers left 240 wallets on the streets of Edinburgh last year to see how many were returned to their owners. Some of the wallets contained one of four photographs – the baby, a cute puppy, a family and a portrait of an elderly couple.
Other wallets contained a card suggesting the owner had recently made a charity donation, while a control batch contained no additional items.
Professor Richard Wiseman, a psychologist who supervised the experiment, said 42 per cent of the wallets were posted back in total.
Those containing the picture of the infant were most likely to trigger an honest reaction from the finder, with 88 per cent being returned, followed by those containing pictures of the puppy at 53 per cent.
Of those featuring the family snapshot, 48 per cent were sent to the return address and only 28 per cent of those with the picture of the elderly couple.
Wallets containing the charity cards and the control sample were least likely to be returned, with rates of 20 and 15 per cent respectively.
Prof Wiseman, of the University of Hertfordshire, said: "The baby kicked off a caring feeling in people, which is not surprising from an evolutionary perspective.
"We were amazed by the high percentage of wallets that came back."
The wallets were planted at random about a quarter of a mile apart. Snapshots were inserted into a clear plastic window inside the wallets, none of which contained money.
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(Agencies)
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最新研究發現，放有寶寶照片的遺失錢包最有可能失而復得。
研究人員在去年將240個錢包丟在了愛丁堡的大街上，來驗證有多少可以物歸原主。其中一些錢包內分別放有寶寶、寵物狗、全家福或者老夫婦的照片。
還有一些錢包里放了失主近期慈善捐獻的認證卡，而對照實驗組的錢包里則沒有放任何附加物。
研究負責人、心理學家理查德?懷斯曼教授稱，有42%的錢包被送回。
有寶寶照片的錢包最容易使失物獲得者做出誠實的反應，歸還率為88%，有寵物狗照片的錢包歸還率緊隨其后，為53%。
有全家福照片的錢包按地址寄回的比例為48%，而有老夫婦照片的錢包歸還率僅為28%。
放有慈善卡的錢包以及對比組的錢包歸還率最低，分別為20%和15%。
赫特福德大學的懷特曼教授說：“寶寶能讓人產生關愛的感情，從進化角度來看，這一點兒也不奇怪。”
“我們很驚訝錢包歸還率能有這么高。”
這些錢包以大約0.25英里的間隔隨意丟放。照片放在錢包透明的塑料格里，所有錢包內均未存放現金。
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