Ethical Experiments

If you mistakenly receive too much change from a cashier, would you return it? How would you handle an obnoxious cell phone user or a waitress who shamelessly flirts with your boyfriend? With the help of actors and hidden cameras, these moral dilemmas are captured on film in What Would You Do?, a provocative series from ABC's Primetime. While some of the undercover experiments end in laughter, others tackle tough issues like abuse, racism and crime. No matter what the scenario, an interesting conversation always follows when real people are put to the test.

Veteran news correspondent John Quiñones sees it all while waiting in the wings. He gets a firsthand look at what happens when people think nobody's watching—and it's not always pretty. "I've gotten to see very inspiring folks who do the right thing and then others who just walk away from situations," he says. "It's allowed me to put myself in the position of the victim. And once you do that, it's hard to turn away from a person in distress, a person in need, a person in trouble."