Fig. 1.

Display and sequence of the Cyberball game. The display imitated an Internet screen including the photos of two putatively human co-players. A sequence of the participant passing the ball to the right co-player is shown by way of example. To indicate the participant's ball possession, the ball appeared in front of the avatar. The participant decided to pass the ball to the right co-player by pressing a corresponding button. The ball was then displayed at a central position for 500 ms. To indicate the co-player's ball possession, the ball appeared next to the co-player for 500–2500 ms (to support the cover story of playing with humans).