 In his sophomore year at Harvard , Kaczynski participated in a personality assessment study conducted by Henry Murray , an expert on stress interviews . Students in Murray 's study were told they would be debating personal philosophy with a fellow student . Instead , they were subjected to a " purposely brutalizing psychological experiment " . During the test , students were taken into a room and connected to electrodes that monitored their physiological reactions , while facing bright lights and a one @-@ way mirror . Each student had previously written an essay detailing their personal beliefs and aspirations : the essays were turned over to an anonymous attorney , who would enter the room and individually belittle each student based in part on the disclosures they had made . This was filmed , and students ' expressions of impotent rage were played back to them several times later in the study . According to author Alston Chase , Kaczynski 's records from that period suggest he was emotionally stable when the study began . Kaczynski 's lawyers attributed some of his emotional instability and dislike of mind control techniques to his participation in this study . Indeed , some have suggested that this experience may have been instrumental in Kaczynski 's future actions . 
