WHAT KIND OF PROFESSOR DOES THIS pic.twitter.com/ACtQ0FCwRm

— name (@shaunhin) July 1, 2015

Would you be willing to stifle others' success for your own benefit?

At the University of Maryland, this tricky question was actually part of one classroom's curriculum. Dr. Dylan Selterman, a psychology lecturer at the school, involved his students in a real-life experiment as part of their exam.

In an online assignment, one of the questions read, "Select whether you want 2 points or 6 points added to your final grade. But there's a small catch: If more than 10% of the class selects 6 points, then no one gets any points. Your answers will be anonymous to the rest of the class, only I will see the responses."

A picture of the question has gone viral after one student took a photo and posted it on Twitter in early July—but this isn't the first time this challenge has been part of the class. Dr. Selterman explained that he has been including it since 2008 and that nearly every time, more than 10% of students opts for more points, resulting in no extra credit for anyone.

Dr. Selterman said that he uses this problem as a means of teaching a concept in psychology that describes how communities can destroy assets when everyone has possible access, known as the "tragedy of commons."

Dr. Selterman has received requests from students to remove the question, which would defeat the purpose of the unorthodox lesson.

"In reality, if too many people overuse a common resource, then everyone in the group suffers, not just the selfish ones," Dr. Selterman told ABC7. "This is what I want students to learn from the exercise. Their actions affect others, and vice versa."

[via ABC7]