How times have changed In a 1957 study of the psychological effects of complete isolation, participants were placed in a soundproof box, wearing dark goggles, gloves, and cardboard tubes over their hands to deprive them of hearing, sight, and touch. The 25-hour study was actually televised live throughout England, an event that probably would not be permitted today, given current human research safeguards, such as participant confidentiality, informed consent, and IRB approval.