PSYCO212 Lecture Notes - Lecture 26: Demand Characteristics, Signal-To-Noise Ratio, Internal Validity
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Demand characteristics: cues that lead participants to guess a study"s hypotheses or goals. Preventing observer and demand threats: conduct a double-blind study. It is a study in which neither the participants nor the researchers who evaluate them know who is in the treatment group and who is in the comparison group. When a double-blind study is not possible, a variation might be acceptable, such as a single-blind study. Keeping observers blind to conditions is even more important when they are rating behaviours that are more difficult to code. Placebo effect: an effect tat occurs when people receiving an experimental treatment experience a change only because they believe they are receiving a valid treatment. Placebo group: a control group that is exposed to an inert treatment ex: sugar pill. A double-blind placebo control study: a study that uses a treatment group and a placebo group and in which neither the research assistant nor the participants know who is in which group.